mizfahey’s Recent Comments

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  No pity...

  No pity for SUV owners having to "painfully cut selling prices" - they made the ridiculous decisions to buy them in the first place.  They never had SUVs when I was growing up and we still managed to get around.  Use public transportation.  Ride your bike.  WALK.  Get a ZipCar membership.  Insist that all these options be available in your community if they are not.  We are car-free in my family - we ride bikes to the grocery store and the 4 miles each way to work, get to know our neighbors and neighborhood by actually walking places, reserve a ZipCar for out-of-town trips, grab a cab home if it's a late night event, or take the bus nearly everywhere when inclement weather prevails, and we are happy as clams.  

  What I see most are spoiled attitudes and an unwillingness to adapt to what this earth needs to survive.  What I mean is, being car-free means I have to think a bit more before I do things, maybe do some research before I go out to make sure I can efficiently get to where I need to go and complete all my tasks.  I ride my bike and I multitask - i.e., I don't have to go to the gym, I get to where I need to go, and I feel wonderful afterwards.  I take the bus and it allows me to catch up on my reading, save money on gas and parking, and still get to where I'm going. Being car-free has helped me remember what's most important and, like when we were kids, be a little more creative with my time rather than expecting instant gratification.

  I am fortunate to live in a very green city, yet the biggest battle here going on is to build a $400M bridge to accommodate more cars, instead of spending that money on improving public and other greener forms of transportation.  

  $5 gas?  $10 gas?  We are still not paying the actual price, as the government continues to give billions in subsidies to the oil companies.  In Europe they are paying over $12/gal for gas because they pay the true price of it instead of sucking up to the earth-killing, profit-driven oil companies.  I have seen the benefit of the higher gas prices - less people are driving, more people are using alternate transportation, and some are even realizing that buying local has it's benefits!!  Yes, there is a paradigm shift needed to make a positive transition during this interesting time, but if people open their minds and hearts to thinking a little differently, more creatively, and more community-based, we can have a stronger economy than we've ever imagined (check out what Iceland has done from being the poorest to one of the richest countries on earth...).

  Once upon a time people stood up for what was right and affected change - we are in a critical place as the elections near, a place where we can really DO something.  Environmentalism trumps all other issues - without the earth to give us air and water and food, other social and political issues become moot points.On No schadenfreude over the death of SUVs posted 1 year, 2 months ago 59 Responses

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  Thank you...

  thank you for educating on Biden's record...feels like he's much more on track than Obama (clean coal my a**), and hopefully will bring the Obama/Biden team to the White House so we can get this country back on track...On Enviros generally pleased with Biden's record on environmental issues posted 1 year, 2 months ago 6 Responses

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  More kudos for Jack Johnson...

  Amen for Jack Johnson - I was just at his show at Columbia Meadows outside of Portland and he really practiced what he preached. Unlike some places who PROVIDE recycling and composting bins, at this show they actually had people standing by the bins to monitor them so that people threw things in the right bin - everything in my hands, including the plates, napkins, silverware and glasses, went into the compost bin.  Too cool.  My only complaint would be that there was no form of public transportation to get to this venue (it was 40 minutes outside of town) nor any advertising of how to get there in a more green way (besides the hybrid parking and carpool parking if at least 4 rode together), which wouldn't seem so bad until after the show, when it took 2 hours to get out of the parking lot = seriously.  All those cars idling, and let me tell you there were a lot of them.  But it's a good start.  Below is a link to a great article recently done noting Jack and Kim's efforts:

  http://www.independent.com/news/2008/aug/21/rockstar-who- ... On Jack Johnson is laid-back -- except when it comes to being green posted 1 year, 2 months ago 2 Responses