What Can We Do?

On December 21 I put up a post on what it would take to get us out of our cars. Along the way I took the aldermanic candidates to task, and specifically commented on Don Gordon and his approach. The feedback is generally along the lines of "Don Gordon cares, and he has alternatives."

I heard from Mike Harrington, who posted this:

Dear Kheris, Don Gordon believes, as most of us do, that reducing our society’s dependency of fossil fuel is an important goal and that we can advance it with large and small measures in our own community. He advocates mass transit and bicycling as alternatives to automobile use, and approaches this from personal experience. He still rides the CTA regularly, and did so for many years when he also rode his bicycle and even jogged from Rogers Park to his job in the Loop.

First of all, my hat if off to anyone who can jog to the Loop from here. I am working on getting myself up to riding my bike (your basic blue, coaster brakes, goes-as-fast-as-I-can-pedal model.) But I continue to take issue with statements such as:

reducing our society’s dependency of fossil fuel is an important goal as enough of a step for now.

In my view, this is not an important goal. It is well beyond that because we are indeed talking about our future as a nation and the life we will lead when fossil fuels become scarcer, more expensive, and we become dependent on alternatives that may, or may not, be available, let alone affordable. Paradise is correct when she says we can't force people out of their cars. The truth is, if we continue the status quo, events will overtake us and achieve that outcome. Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) made oblique references to the geopolitical and economic variable that will influence our access to fossil fuels. We may not have to wait for Peak Oil to find ourselves in a bind. Whether it is geologic Peak, technical Peak, or an impassable Strait of Hormuz, what is the cost we are willing to bear to continue with business as usual today? And I am not talking dollars.

So here's a challenge to Messrs Gordon, Ginderske, Adams, and Moore. Without a doubt you will be pushing parking alongside mass transit and alternative transportation. What more are you willing to do in order to institute the preparations for Peak Oil, beyond telling constituents that reduction in fossil fuel utilization is an important goal? Are you willing to begin a conversation that emphasizes to them the impact on their lives if RP is not prepared for a fossil fuel-less future? Are you prepared to tell them that their lives and their children's lives will feel the effects if we fail to act? Are you willing to commit your office to leading a community based initiative, assuming for now that City Hall hasn't the wisdom of Bloomberg or the Metro DC COG, to develop the plans and alternatives that can enable RP to continue to be the "location of choice" for living and working well into the middle of this century.

Is it so much to ask that at least an alderman display the wisdom that is beginning to take root elsewhere? Or is the Machine too busy counting votes to care?