cost of living

[_subgenius]

...(snip)...own a car. It's a luxury. ...(snip)...

(emphasis mine) this "equation" is far more revealing than Quasi may want to admit.

[_ludwigm]

Whining, whining?

In Germany it is $8.75, in The Netherlands $9.6 . (counted in that stupid gallon...)
In Hungary it is only 7.15 - and our average incoming is 1/6 - 1/8 of the US or the EU.

but you have less distance and/or reason to drive anywhere.

United States wins with distance.
Europe wins with time...

You live in a different world... I forgave You, because You live in khm khm khm... in a crap.


In Hungary, we have temples constructed in XIII century. In 12"xxtime" or some similar...

[_ajax18]

Granted, I only lived outside the USA as a missionary. I find having your own automobile slightly more convenient than relying on public transportation. But in the USA, public transportation isn't even profitable enough for a company to stand on it's own. Even with government subsidy, it's grossly inadequate. Quasi is right. A vehicle is a necessity if you want to eat. But cars, loan interest, upkeep, insurance, gas etc. are incredibly expensive. And it seems to keep getting more expensive. When gasoline gets more expensive, everything gets more expensive.

[_Some Schmo]

I'm kooky that way, but I guess a great economy is meaningless at the bottom of an ocean.

Canada has already started building a pipeline to ship the oil west to barges bound for Asia. How has the environment benefited?

My point was that when gas costs more, people tend to drive less (only when they really need to), thus pumping less CO2 into the atmosphere.

[_ajax18]

My point was that when gas costs more, people tend to drive less (only when they really need to), thus pumping less CO2 into the atmosphere.

Not much less. Gasoline is an inelastic good. It seems like the CO2 is going to be pumped into the atmosphere by the US or someone else. What's the difference between the oil being burned in Asia or America with respect to the atmosphere or ocean temperature?

[_Some Schmo]

Not much less. Gasoline is an inelastic good.

When gas went to 4 buck a gallon in 2008, people started making adjustments to their driving habits. I remember that was the year I started working from home, for instance. I think you're right in saying "not much less" but any difference in the amount of carbon emissions is a good thing.

It seems like the CO2 is going to be pumped into the atmosphere by the US or someone else. What's the difference between the oil being burned in Asia or America with respect to the atmosphere or ocean temperature?

There is no difference, but that's no reason to ignore the problem. Yeah can't condemn other countries for doing something of which you are more guilty.

It's only a matter of time before we start losing coast lines and at that point, when people finally see the effects of climate change, it will suddenly be a worldwide priority to do something about it. I fear by then it will be too late. By the time these assholes/ignoramuses with a political need to deny the science on this can't reasonably deny it anymore (not that they still can, really), and finally decide, "hey, maybe we should do something now that I've seen it with my own eyes" the damage may be irreparable.

Man, I do not like people who deny science. So much so, I think they should be denied access to the fruits of science. So when they get cancer, they should grin and bare it. Dickwads.

[_Quasimodo]

In most of Europe one doesn't need to own a car. It's a luxury. Where I live it's a vital part of getting to work every day. No car, no job.

General Motors, Firestone, Standard Oil and others took part in a concerted effort dismantle light rail city transport in American cities during the first half of the 20th Century. Yea Capitalism!

From Wikipedia:

Between 1936 and 1950, National City Lines and Pacific City Lines—with investment from GM, Firestone Tire, Standard Oil of California, Phillips Petroleum, Mack Trucks, and the Federal Engineering Corporation—purchased over 100 electric surface-traction systems in 45 cities including St. Louis, Baltimore, Newark, Los Angeles, New York City, Oakland and San Diego and converted them into bus operations. Several of the companies involved were convicted in 1949 of conspiracy to monopolize interstate commerce but were acquitted of conspiring to monopolize the ownership of these companies.

Some suggest that this program played a key role in the decline of public transit in cities across the United States; notably Edwin J. Quinby, who first drew attention to the program in 1946, and then Bradford C. Snell, an anti-trust attorney for the United States Senate whose controversial 1974 testimony to a Senate inquiry brought the issue to national awareness. Both Quinby and Snell argued that the deliberate destruction of streetcars was part of a larger strategy to push the United States into automobile dependency.[1] Others say that independent economic factors brought about changes in the transit system, including the Great Depression, the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, labor unrest, market forces, rapidly increasing traffic congestion, urban sprawl, taxation policies that favored private vehicle ownership, and general enthusiasm for the automobile.[2] More recently Guy Span, a noted writer on the subject has suggested that Snell and others fell into simplistic conspiracy theory thinking, bordering on paranoid delusions[n 1] saying "Clearly, GM waged a war on electric traction. It was indeed an all out assault, but by no means the single reason for the failure of rapid transit. Also, it is just as clear that actions and inactions by government contributed significantly to the elimination of electric traction."[n 2]
Only a small handful of U.S. cities have surviving effective rail-based urban transport systems based on streetcars or trams, including Newark, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, and Boston; others are re-introducing them. The story has been explored several times in print, film and other media, notably in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Taken for a Ride and The End of Suburbia.

Good article and GREAT photo!

I think the loss (deliberate destruction) of the Red Cars in LA contributed heavily to the problem we now have.

It decentralized LA. One of the big problems for public transportation here is that everyone is going to a different destination. There really is no Downtown where most people work. Because the major form of transportation was the automobile as the city developed, workplaces were scattered across all of LA and Orange counties.

It's now nearly impossible to design a public transportation system that could adequately serve such a widespread area.

During a large earthquake (Northridge) the freeway bridge I needed to cross every morning collapsed. The mountain roads that I might have used as an alternative were all closed due to landslides.

The train line was still operational so I researched that as a route to work. Although it was a fifty mile ride, it took about ninety minutes to make the journey due other stops the train needed to make.

The nearest train station to my destination was almost twenty miles away. The bus line that I would have taken ran only once every forty five minutes and that would require three transfers to get to within a block of my work place. It worked out to be about a three hour commute one way.

Looking at six hours everyday to get to work and home again, I took a week's vacation and waited for them to fix the roads.

[_Brackite]

Things were better under President Reagan back then they are today, but that was mainly due to a Congress that was more willing to work with Reagan and get things done. Today, we have a Congress that mainly doesn't want to get things done, and that is partly the result of far right-wing radio talk show hosts such as Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, and Laura Ingraham. Look at what recently happened to Congressman Eric Cantor. Far right-wing radio talk show host loons Mark Levin and Laura Ingraham are basically responsible for taking Cantor out for him wanting to get some kind of an immigration reform bill in the House going.

If Conservative Republicans are upset about the Keystone Pipeline not going to be built through the heartland of the United States, then how can they not see how that Democrats are upset about not getting any kind of immigration reform legislation passed or not getting any legislation passed for expanding background checks on gun sales? If Reagan was still around here today, I am sure he would be for the Manchin and Toomey bill for expanding background checks on gun sales.

[_Quasimodo]

Things were better under President Reagan back then they are today, but that was mainly due to a Congress that was more willing to work with Reagan and get things done. Today, we have a Congress that mainly doesn't want to get things done, and that is partly the result of far right-wing radio talk show hosts such as Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, and Laura Ingraham. Look at what recently happened to Congressman Eric Cantor. Far right-wing radio talk show host loons Mark Levin and Laura Ingraham are basically responsible for taking Cantor out for him wanting to get some kind of an immigration reform bill in the House going.

If Conservative Republicans are upset about the Keystone Pipeline not going to be built through the heartland of the United States, then how can they not see how that Democrats are upset about not getting any kind of immigration reform legislation passed or not getting any legislation passed for expanding background checks on gun sales? If Reagan was still around here today, I am sure he would be for the Manchin and Toomey bill for expanding background checks on gun sales.

There was a time when Conservatives and Liberals took mild potshots at each other in the media, but worked together behind the scenes to accomplish the things that need to be done.

It seems that Tea Party folks have turned Conservatism into a religion that doesn't allow for any dissension of what they foolishly consider to be God's will.

It will be he death of the Republican party.