Cars are bad.Trains are good.especially electric ones.
Repeal gas taxes?I think tripling them is a better idea.We’ve had fuel burning transportation for less then 200 years,and are on the verge of killing our planet!we did ok for thousands of years before that.Stop using gas! is that so hard to understand?but alas we are all addicted to driving.It will be the death of us all in a few short generations.That is if the politicos don’t nuke the planet first!  Lower the speed limit could help a bit in the short term, but alternatives MUST be used the sooner the better. Tax credits on hybreds?how about a progressive tax on all vehicals the worse effecient pay the highest taxes. Want to drive less?How about car insurance by the mile.the less you drive, the cheaper your insurance is!

Of course we should give major tax credits to hybrid vehicles and possibly force companies to build more of these types of cars.  But the question in the poll was how to deal with high gas prices.  Less people drive is the solution.  Less demand makes them lower the price.  The way to get less people to drive would be for the purpose of this poll to give public transport subsidies.  Also build more systems.  Have bike paths open everywhere.  Public transportation needs to be more accessable.  Buses are good also.  Subsidize them.  Make it free I think to ride public transportation.  And make it quicker so people don’t have to wait so long.  This would make more people want to ride.  This would lower gas prices.  This would alleviate traffic at the same time.  All around good effects.

I voted for transit subsidies although I think credits for hybrids would be good too. Bike paths and bike accessibility are a must.

Kaw Valley Kid, fuel addiction is difficult to break. I live in a small city in the South with little public transportation (we have buses) and little bike accessibility. However, I try to bike everywhere I go when I go places alone. I am a student and I play the upright bass in a class with a professor off campus (it’s not offered on campus), so for that I have to drive 5-10 miles once a week, a trip I would normally bike. My girlfriend lives 35-40 minutes outside the city (in the country) with her grandmother. She would move here to cut down on driving but her grandmother’s lives needs assistance. I drive there once a week, and back. My immediate family lives 180 miles away. Other family are more spread out. To get groceries or do anything else, I bike.

The larger problem, with me at least, and with many commuters, is separation from desired places. The idea of mobility in America is deeply ingrained; we are led to believe that we can go places and see things - that we do not have to remain content in once place. I like wilderness areas a lot and enjoy traveling to them to go camping or hiking - and I believe in preserving them - but to visit them, even in the bordering states (there is only one in my state currently operating) - requires usually a five-plus hour drive. If you don’t live in a city, the use of gas is often necessary to sustain employment. People are spread out. We drive to see our families and our loved ones.

I am interested in the hypothetical effect of phasing out pragmatic personal transportation - that is, if it were possibly to use public transit to transport anyone who couldn’t drive or walk to work, and we used fuel only to make the sort of occasional trips that satisfy mobility cravings (to see loved ones, friends, family or for recreation), how much would we conserve and how would the environment benefit? This is a somewhat self-interested scenario, I admit.

Talking about this is tricky. Mobility and fuel use concerns an area in which some progressively minded people (I include myself) have difficulty making the necessary sacrifices to cut out gas use entirely - whereas making sacrifices for good in other ways - sacrificing time, or money - are not as much of a problem. It’s expensive to live more efficiently - hybrids and efficiency houses don’t currently pay off in the long run, unless you can live a really long time. It’s difficult to discern what responsbility we bear. I recycle. I bike when it’s possible rather than drive. But until everyone is willing to use alternate transportation, what can be done? I am constantly torn between a moral intiative to cut fuel use as much as possible and a uniquely modern and extremely intense desire for occasional mobility and travel.

I am interested in hearing about what kind, if any, transportation you use Kaw Valley, and if you ever take trips or are concerned at all with the idea of traveling.

Sadly,I have to drive a car 35 or 40 miles each way in my commute 3 or 4 times a week.I will be riding a 65MPG motorcyle when the weather permits.Around my hometown I try to bike,as you do Thomas,or walk.I am seeking employment closer to home but it will mean about a 50% pay cut and nearly double the hours worked!I comend you on your efforts!Now if everybody else thought like you and I and made a concerted effort to make less unnesesary trips,we would put a huge dent in our energy consumption.I agree we are a nation that loves to travel.I don’t expect that to go away,that is a major reason to develop alternate types of transportation that are BOTH less(or non)polluting,and NOT dependent on non renewable(and imported)enregy sources.So to me I guees the problem is two fold.The environmental Impact and the cost of dependence on oil.The high gas prices just give me a better reason to be a better steward of the planet.I didn’t want to burn gas before it was expensive!The high prices merely wake up all the people who have become so accustomed to driving so much,and largly don’t care,or at least don’t think about the enviromental impact of what they(we) are doing to our home(the earth).Another huge waste of the oil energy,is the manufacture transport and sales of inferior products designed to be replaced often,and the fact that many are made our of oil based plastics! have you bought a modern day toaster or vaccume lately?sure you have because the last three or four you owned turned to junk shortly after the warrenty was up!Just like the cars we drive and the VCRs turned to DVD players ect…They don’t build things to last or to be repaired anymore.They build items that they will replace again and again,making profits everytime!But this is not sustainable nor does it make any sense! Buy things that last.An older toaster bought at a thirft store is likely to last far longer than one bought at walmart!Saving them both from a land fill! Another thing we can all do to help is to buy locally grown foods(preferably organic).Not only does this reduce the cost of trucking food to you,it supports your local economys and the local farmers who you may soon depend on anyway,when there is no way to get all the foods from elsewhere TO you (us).I live in a town where there is lots of local and organic food avalible and I try to support that,but I often can’t afford it either. While I spout high ideals and KNOW what I should be doing it doesn’t mean I always do.We all do the best we can(hopefully),and the more we know the better we can do.

I dont live in Chicago,I don’t know why this board keeps saying I do!

Thanks for the comments Kaw Valley. I believe the website is hosted out of Chicago; I don’t live there either.

Agree with the increase in gas taxes. John B. Anderson ran as an independent in 1980 and proposed a $0.50 tax per gallon. The revenue was to be used for alternative energy development — naturally people thought he was a nut.

Also, we need a cohesive national transportation system. Rail is the most economical (coal and other large loads) and could be largely using the Interstate mediam strip between major cities with interurban feeder lines connected to airports, bus stations and central city stations.

First of all, I think we should impose an immediate moratorium on highway construction.  Only maintenance required for driver safety should be funded. 

The funds saved should be used to develop a national intercity rail system linked to regional airports and intracity light rail or trolley systems each of which must link to the local airport. 

Secondly, we need to re-regulate the airlines to insure that all markets are adequately served, hub airport traffic is reduced, and airline operators can make a reasonable profit.  The government should not bail out airlines, allow them to shift their pension obligations to the taxpayers, or guarantee loans.  If the airlines need help from the government, then the government should take an ownership interest in the airline like any other rational investor.

Personally I feel that exxon mobile and friends are gouging the consumer and should be made to return their ‘Largest profit ever’ back to the consumer. Cars can and should immediatly be modified to get better mileage and Ethanol production must be considered a top priority. Oil is peaking! We must cut our dependance on it! IMPEACH BUSH NOW!

Yes Impeach bush!(for lots of reasons)what that has to do with reducing oil consumtion,I’m not sure….
  I have heard the energy costs of producing ethanol,is higher than the energy that we get out of it,and there are a lot of government subsidies for the producers of this faux solution.Anyone know more about this?I think its the corn based ethanol,I am refering to.I guess ethanol made from sugar is waay more cost effecient,and in fact Brazil already uses it for over half of their fuel needs,and has become energy INDEPENDENT!

Remember when we had intelligent presidents?  Pres. Jimmy Carter gave us tax credits for investing in alternate energy to heat our homes.  Here in Canton, Ma. there are solar panels that still work to heat the water of many homes.  Cost about $300 after you get the federal and state tax credits and they’re still working after 30 years.
I’d do that in a minute, just give me the chance.  And in florida and alabama, they could do EVERYTHING with the sun, not just heat water.  Where did we lose our way?

Does anyone know where in the Boston area, I could get my car modified to be able to use any of those corn-based fuels (or similar renewable forms of energy)?  We would need both the conversion and the fill-her-up capability in order for this to be practical.  But I’m game.

I despise adding to the obscene profits of the Exxon war criminals, as well as to the death toll caused by the lust for oil.