FYI: Read this LA Times article about the global warming-related, anti-urban sprawl bill making its way through the California legislature, and compare it to last month’s WLA interview with state Attorney General Jerry Brown.
Take that, Joel Kotkin.
Just what you expect from a bunch of tree-huggers and left-wing politicians trying to control people.
First, this man-made global warming is a bunch of malarky being used by politicians for other goals, and scientists do not agree on it–despite Al Gore’s claims that it is settled through his phony data and even though he doesn’t practice what he preaches.
Secondly, sprawl is people living where they want, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
The amazing thing is that the free market has a remarkable ability to handle these things.
The solar and green movement for years didn’t take hold because the products didn’t work. However – demand for these products – has fueled innovation and now the stuff is starting to work. Look at all the Priuses, Honda Hybrid Civics, Hybrid Ford Escapes, etc. that are getting bought. Car dealers can not keep smart cars and hybrids in the showroom long enough.
It’s the same with solar home heating and electrical equipment. Back in the moonbeam days the stuff didn’t work, it was crap. Now it’s great.
Ed Begley has shown how the free market can be used to educate consumers and demand green products. Lets not louse it up with government involvement.
Now, Higby is sounding more conservative. However, I don’t hold the green products in as high esteem as does he. Those things don’t begin to pay for themselves and the so-called carbon impact to produce them is greater.
I read about a local lady who put solar panels on her barn, and the article said that they would pay for themselves in thirty years. What?!! What kind of payback period is that? She spent over $100,000 and her energy savings, generously calculated for maximum benefit, is unacceptable from a rational economic standpoint. Those panels won’t even be in existence in thirty years.
Same with the cars. The electric cars require more of a negative manufacturing impact on resources, and the Smart Car doesn’t get as good of mileage as some gas models already out there.
People need to quit wasting money on things that make them feel good and quit trying to force others to join in the stupidity. When the right products are out there, they won’t need government incentives and people will buy them enthusiastically. They just aren’t there now.
Micheal, it wasn’t just the free market that drove solar innovations. It was also government subsidies. California, of example, provides rebates of upwards of 1/3 of the cost for installing solar power in homes & businesses. And the moonbeam days were, what, 30 years ago? Lots of stuff has happened since the seventies.
Just what I need, the government telling me I need to live in a high density building with noisy neighbors, no privacy and no back yard. I wonder if Celeste is living in an urban sprawl area or in a multi-story building next to a Metro station whose trains won’t get you where you need to be in the morning.
LR, nobody wants the government telling us where we can live and where we can’t. I certainly don’t. I live in Topanga Canyon, which is close to exactly nothing.
On the other hand, we have lots of building regulations as it is, some smart, some driven by fear of liability. I’d welcome some wiser planning.
And when you look at some of the Smart Growth stuff it’s kind of interesting, and seems community oriented and possibly more functional, from a human perspective, as well as from an environmental impact POV. I honestly don’t know enough to have a strong opinion, but I do know that the path of least resistance isn’t always the right one and I don’t think our suburban sprawl has been ideal.
Where I go up in Montana (my mother’s from MT), it’s much more of a multi-use situation, although people have plenty of yard space, and we have a river in our back yard. But a lot of the places we have to go for day-to-day needs plus the elementary school are within walking or biking distance. There’s much more of a community feel.
Obviously, a sparsely populated state like Montana is never going to be analogous to So Cal, but wiser planning seems like a worthy goal. Whether or not this bill represents wise planning or not, I don’t know. I was first introduced to this whole notion when I got curious about what Jerry Brown was doing.
But check out this link.
http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/
And heaven knows we’re all sick of the traffic. So what should we do?
Hey Celeste:
You do live next to the Theatricum Botanicum. That’s something!
I live actually within a ten minute walk from the Theatricum. It is a heavenly place, isn’t it? Anyone who’s not seen Midsummer Night’s Dream there, should go no matter what. (Woody you should fly in from Georgia.) To my way of thinking, it’s exactly what Will S. had in mind (whether he knew it or not).
http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/709231/
Come on down and say hi.
Celeste,
We have more than enough people living in S. California, time to try and limit population growth. I would change the tax laws, people should have to pay more taxes for each kid, not less. And of course we need a lot more MTA trains all over S. Calif. The majority of driving is commuting for work, not sure how you fix that, even if you move close to work, the job probaly won’t last long and you will be freeway commuting again.
Most “suburban sprawl” towns have their own school district, local stores/shopping and some jobs.
Adam, will do!
LR, not sure the kid tax thingy would fly. But, hey, there’s a provocative Op Ed waiting to be written! People would came at you with all manner of projectiles but it would certainly open up an interesting discussion.
Look forward to meeting you Celeste. If, of course, I’m working that day. And, I do expect you to bring Marc Cooper along with you.
And Woody if you fly in from Atlanta, I’ll be happy to comp him a couple of tickets. It might do you some good – make you a little less uptight:) You’ll get to see some great theatre, have a picnic, and watch people dressed in fairy costumes flutter about while you eat.
I may take you up on the visit. However, if I want to watch people flutter about like fairies, then I just have to go to Atlanta’s Piedmont Park in midtown. My daughter got married outside at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens which borders on Piedmont Park, and no one told us that the Gay Pride Festival would be going on there at the same time.
I have an old friend who helps run the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery, which is first class and only a two hour drive away. But, they don’t have fairies.