Toll Road America

A real societal change to address global climate change would involve raising the price of gas and providing a more sane transportation infrastructure. These two part go together.

It doesn't mean everyone moving to cities. It means greatly expanding transportation infrastructure other than roads and then building affordable housing along transportation hubs. Our current system of an automobile or two per family is not sustainable anyway you look at it.

It is ironic that the biggest roadblock to real change is White middle-class liberals, the very people who claim to be taking this issue seriously.

Scenic routes are not very good for the environment. The toll road is far more environmentally responsible, it means a shorter ride at more consistent speeds on better maintained roads and less gasoline burned. Often paying tolls is environmentally responsible... you can't have it both ways. The reason we use fossil fuels is that they are cheap. If you are serious about addressing climate change, then you are going to have to make significant lifestyle changes that are likely going to cost more.

I would love to hear your daughter's opinion on this.

Then she already knows the fastest and best way to save the planet is for people, especially in first world countries, to stop having so many children. It’s happening, but the effect of less children today won’t be felt for several more generations.

As far as size of city. Sure, if you’re going to live downtown, it’ll be more expensive. I’m not sure that’s the whole story though. The reason more cities in the NE in particular take up less square mileage is because they’ve been established longer. When they got around to thinking about expanding, the land was already taken up by towns. In Texas for instance, you started a city up and you could grow in any direction. The price of houses isn’t really as dependent on being close to the city center, because there are multiple centers of business and employment. The price of houses is more based on the neighborhood, rather than closeness to downtown.

The problem as you go West tends to be that not much thought was put into the mid range future. Hence no infrastructure for subways, el trains, efficient street layout for buses, etc. consider NYC. The original areas around Wall Street make less sense than the streets and avenues growing in a grid like fashion from there. Same with Boston.

The idea of car pooling in any city or town always makes me laugh. Does anyone actually do that, beyond on an occasional basis? You’ve got to be ready to leave at an exact time not to hold others up, and just hope they are doing the same. I won’t even get into the actual drive time experience. Then, you’re dumped at work and are now a prisoner there until whatever time you get picked up. No going out to lunch, doctors appointments, running errands, doing any business related travel, getting to work early, or leaving early (or the reverse as the situation is needed) stopping to do anything on the way home, or even being able to not go home if you don’t want to. Goodbye to meeting friends for dinner or drinks, or getting involved in any spontaneous after work activity, including wanting to work longer.

I have sometimes considered how many jobs could be done, if not entirely, but in large part, by telecommuting. No tolls or traffic at all that way.

Neither are marauding bands of war criminals using up way way way too much of other people's oil, Max.

Put a halt on your far too expansive war criminals who are stationed all over the world and you can fix a lot of the world's problems.