To get you out of your car? To make lifestyle changes. Well the The European Tribune has a post worth reading on this subject. I couldn't get to the source document, it is a PDF file but appears to be corrupted, Adobe couldn't read it.
In any case, would $100/barrel of oil do it? Would that be enough to convince JoMo and his competition to get vocal about the impact on RP? Aren't the citizens at least as important as foie gras? We need to be planning for this because, according to the article, OPEC is. They think $100/barrel is not going to break us of our addiction, and even if it did, there are still the Chinese and Indians to sell to. They anticipate Peak Oil, but they sure aren't that concerned. Think about this folks. I mean seriously think about this and what it means for your family's future.
I responded to Don Gordon's email on development in RP by telling him to read the Hirsch Report and quit worrying about parking. I don't expect him to pay attention.
NYC has started to at least talk about Peak Oil, and now it appears that the the Metropolitan Area Council of Governments (COG) in our nation's capital is slowly coming to grips with the issue. "King" Richard would like to be re-elected. He could do worse than to organize a local solution to an issue with global implications. It would be quite the legacy to leave. Imagine what it could do for aldermen with political aspirations beyond their wards! Much more important than foie gras, no matter what "Hot Lips" says.
2 comments:
Being aware of Peak Oil and doing something about it are 2 different things. Gordon is also looking for additional parking. Granted, there is a lot of vehicle use in RP, but that doesn't mean we have to invite even more vehicles into the community and add to the coming woes.
As for soft-pedaling the stance, that's a recipe for more business as usual and future disruptions on a wider scale. It's added to by the mainstream media's inability, or unwillingness, to actually learn what is going on and present the implications. True the Tribune did the series on oil, but even they aren't coming full out and pounding for change. I saw some info over at The Oil Drum today, calling Peak as 2012 +/- a year. That's 2 presidential elections away, which means it will be 2016 before it sinks in and all of the candidates will be promising the world so they can get elected. Hirsch made it clear; you need 20 years to prepare. We aren't going to get it as long as our leaders and leader wanna-bes soft pedal this. They are sacrificing the future for votes. The truth is, we can start dealing with this as a community and not wait on the politicoes, and our aldermanic candidates ought to be fully aware of that. I am not saying it will be easy, but I am saying it can be done.
Why wouldn't Don pay attention? I am unfamiliar with your previous efforst to educate him abou this issue, but have you tried and failed or been rebuffed by him?
I have been interested in seeing RP implement a trolly system like they have downtown to accommodate the folks who do not have cars or who would be happy to leave their cars at home most times, but still need to get around on occasion. I think of the Morse El, the Loyola El/campus, and Howard Street as 3 major transit nodes. A trolly that ran between the 3 areas, and perhaps up Clark to the Metra, would be a nice addition. Alternatively, if the CTA could add a short bus route, perhaps using an alt-energy bus, that would be great too.
Concerning Don specifically, he once described a plan to connect the lakefront bike path with the north suburbs by using the Metra embankment rights of way and Ravenswood Ave. His plan connected the metra and CTA skokie swift rights of way near Howard so you could ride a bike from Edgewater up to pretty close to the Forest Preserve trails. It made a lot of sense to me. I am not sure where it fits into the overall set of issues, but I was struck by his effort to come up with an interesting solution using resources that are for the most part already in place in the community. Anyway, I find this topic interesting. thanks.
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