I'm just going to keep saying it.  This is what Democrats get for compromising where they shouldn't have in the first place.  No more oil drilling, period!  And start taxing oil and gasoline, build public transit that runs off solar and wind power, and begin shutting down the evil oil rigs that now exist.  THAT would have been a Democratic proposal I could've gotten on board with.

OK, how do you purpose to take absolute control of the nation and shove your personal version of 'the right thing' down everyone else's throat?

You packin' that much heat?

So why should we?  Once they begin offering things, like closure of major roads, then we can offer things.  Until then, "no compromise" is where we need to be.

Consumption and burning of oil greatly harms or destroys ecosystems, emits toxic pollution, poisons the water and kills animals with oil spills, and poisons the air with pollution that causes, among other things, global climate change.  Therefore, mass transit powered by solar collectors and wind generators that do not consume oil is much better for the Earth.  This is not my "personal vision," it's a pure fact.  If you were an environmentalist you'd know that.

And not call you a doofus.  ;o)

You need to get out in the real world and expand your knowledge base.

We're not going to close major roads.

We're not going to shut everything down and bring it back up powered by wind and solar.

We're likely to gradually shift from fossil fuels to solar, wind, geothermal, co-generation, etc.  And do so with minimal disruption to our present lifestyles.

Why?

Because a lot of people just don't buy into the "green" vision.  They want their "MTV" and don't care too much where it comes from.  

And a significant portion of the world's population really wants personal transportation, at least part of the time.  You may be fine with always taking the bus, but many aren't.  Just try using the bus with two toddlers and a week's worth of groceries.

(Last trip to town I brought home a truckload of horse poop for my garden.  Try doing that with public transportation.)

Take an extreme stance and a "my way or the highway" attitude and you'll find that someone is going to hand you your butt.

Changing the way we do things - it's about compromise and gradual progress.

I don't expect major roads to be closed nor people to significantly evolve anytime soon.  But these should be our eventual goals if we want to solve the environmental and ecological problems they cause.

But, and I've said this before on other threads, people like you who say "can't" or "won't" really mean they don't want to do the things they claim are not possible.  If you don't want these things as long term goals, please be honest and say so.  If you do, don't be defeatist.  Nothing is ever accomplished by thinking and saying it can't be done.

I have personally been involved in political negotiations and know exactly how they work.  The point is that coming from an anti-drilling position, the Democrats should never have agreed to drilling without getting anything significant in return.  And the Democrats should be playing hardball on the extension of the renewable tax credits.  Some ideas are attaching it to must pass legislation or refusing to fund certain things that the administration deems necessary until the renewal is law.

The weak positions of the Democrats are disgusting, and have nothing to do with what's feasible.  Those weak positions are caused by a lack of caring about the environment and pro-corporate, pro-cosumerist ideologies.