[Vision2020] Inconvenient Truth -- What WE REALLY HAVE TO DO

[Art Deco]

God (alleged, choose the one that pleases you most) save the Queen!

Donovan and I agree on at least some fundamental outlooks.

1.    There is a limited amount of terrestrial/atmospheric resources.  There are and will be too many people competing for these resources.  Further, overuse of some of these resources creates life/quality of life threatening environmental problems for all plants and animals including humankind.  Think about this:  What would happen if at least half of the world's human population lived at the same standard of resource usage as the US and western Europe?

2.    Petroleum resources are not only quite limited, but their uses are a leading cause of many life/quality of life threatening problems.  Hence, a very high tax on such products may help motivate a search for much better, kinder to the earth, plants and animals (including humankind) alternatives, and also decrease their usage and the associated problems.


However, I also think the pessimistic outlook of Nils that we lack the political will to do what needs to be done before it is too late is also accurate.

Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
deco at moscow.com



----- Original Message ----- 
From: Donovan Arnold 
To: Nils Peterson ; vision2020 at moscow.com ; areaman at moscow.com 
Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2006 9:30 AM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Inconvenient Truth -- What WE REALLY HAVE TO DO


Niles writes:


"I doubt we'll find the political will to take the scale of actions Donovan suggests."Niles, if we lack the will to do what it takes to save the Earth,then the Earth is surly doomed. Dan Carscallen writes:"Hey, you gotta start somewhere."What's the point of building a catapult to go 1/4 the wayacross a canyon we must cross, you are better off staying where you are. We willnot save the Earth if this generation does not do something drasticand soon. The only reason buses have real ridership is because of economicnecessity of the riders. Nobody WANTS to ride a bus. They smell, they are crowded, unsafe, unclean,inconvenient, slow, and uncomfortable. People do it mostly because it is their bestoption, not because they are trying to save the Earth.If you really want to raise bus ridership raise gas prices, make them clean,safer, more convenient,
 and much more comfortable. Add cushy seats that haveonline access, more buses, more locations, and give them their own lane.For Moscow, a trolley on the old railroad tracks would work nicely.  Best,_DJA

Nils Peterson <nils_peterson at wsu.edu> wrote:
  Thanks Dan for sharing information on Valley Transit ridership. I understand
  that they have a new route for commuters from Lewiston to Moscow. Perhaps we
  need periodic reminders of the data that these systems are growing.

  And thanks for pointing out that we can, and need, to start small -- because
  without that personal action, I doubt we'll find the political will to take
  the scale of actions Donovan suggests.


  On 8/24/06 8:13 AM, "areaman> wrote:
  Donovan says:
  "You guys are thinking so small, so tiny. It doesn't help save the earth
  even a day to do these tiny things."

  Hey, you gotta start somewhere.

  An aside to Joe: Believe you me, my good buddy Tom LaPointe is getting
  the word out there as far as Moscow Valley Transit is concerned. Would
  he like more people to ride the bus? Heck yes, but I'm here to tell you
  that I've seen charts and graphs and whatnot presented by Tom that shows
  nothing but increasing ridership for Moscow Valley Transit. While I'm
  not a guy who would normally ride the bus -- various reasons, including
  a short bicycle or motorcycle commute to work -- I'm all in favor of
  having that option for people.

  DC

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