Andy Goodell wrote: > I'm a bit confused. How is driving 60 miles - alternatively powered or not - > supposed to be a good thing? > How about biking 60 miles instead? Isn't that around 1000 mpg after > accounting for the caloric intake? > This is the kind of thing that really bugs me. Any car, whether it gets 10mpg > or 100mpg, runs on oil/coal/natural gas/hydrogen is still a personal vehicle, > requiring a comprehensive road system, destined to be driven at our > convenience, with little regard to our impending crises of oil depletion, > rising fuel prices, and the whole range of good and services that are > affected by fuel prices. > Haven't we realized yet that personal cars are *the* problem and we should > put funding into making bike lanes, biker and walker friendly streets, and > supporting public bus and light rail systems, and forget about personal > vehicles finally?
I think you may need to allow both for local culture and for taking smaller steps on the way to showing people solutions. Watkins Glen is the local heart of road racing - gas-guzzling to be sure, but generally a proud part of the area's story. The woman this event is named for was both an environmentalist and a sports car enthusiast - not an entirely startling combination for the Southern Tier at this time. (She taught at my elementary school too, but I don't think I ever had her as a teacher.) Insisting that cars are _the_ problem and always a problem may feel like a pure path to environmental cleanup. Unfortunately it's not a message that resonates with the vast majority of people, including people you'll need to convince to put their money into the public transit you want to see. Is it a perfect event? No. Is it one step toward a slightly better world, reaching out to a lot of people who aren't already in the conversation? Yes. Thanks, Simon St.Laurent _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
