The U.S. debate on carbon fuel and autosprawl is so far behind the curve it is embarrassing. We should be discussing the best way to implement free public transit.

freepublictransit

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The Green argument is that somehow even though the world is totally convinced we're about to play out like a scene from the 1961 thriller The Day The Earth Caught Fire, no individuals are willing to do anything about it -- like stop driving.

And while "The People" are totally Gorified and willing to make any sacrifice, they still have to be shackled by government to actually do anything...by themselves!  

Even though, there are probably nine jillion articles in Grist about how People can just hold hands and form dodecahedrons and built tool sheds from styrofoam cups...so why can't they just use People Power to fix the smog?

You know what I would like?  I would like a complete accounting of each and every Grist "editor" on a web page, showing how much their CO2 footprint was in 2001 and how much it is now.

Because as a species we are just that stupid. Our genetics tell us males to look big and make big noises for reproductive success and the tools we make to do that doom our children to sterility and death.

It's almost an airtight refutation of intelligent design as good as the existence of the republican party.

When it comes right down to it automobiles represent a form of futile cycling in urban areas and would do do if they all ran on mr. fusion devices. People think that because they have a car it's a good idea to take a job an hours drive from where they have housing. Because everybody else is just as human (stupid) as you are that hours drive turns in an hour and a half every other day.

Exhausted people make bad decisions leading to drug addiction, teen pregnancy, fast food, divorce and bottled water use. All of that leads to more driving, more exhaustion and the elevation of the Bush family to public office.

Whether environmental destruction happens due to greenhouse gases, freeway building or excessive heat buildup from everybody using their Mr. Fusion (tm) to keep the patios toasty in blizzard weather the result is the same. The population overshoots the carrying capacity of the earth.

All that heat and waste has to go somewhere and usually it means your neighbors septic tank overflows onto your lawn. So until everybody agrees to a sane waste disposal policy some idiot gets extra benefit from throwing his shit over the fence.

That's the point.

The Bush administration is arguing from the viewpoint of the guy who wants to keep throwing his shit over the fence. After all, we don't know that guy over there on the next block and we're pretty sure we have more guns than he does. And if California decides to quit tossing all by itself then everybody else looks bad.

Can't have that.

Put the Carbon Back