10-01-2004, 11:28 PM
It's gonna take a long time, and a totally re-envisioning of town development to help us wean off of the Arabian teet. We're not building communities in which the car is a luxary, where walking and public transportation is still a viable option. We're building communities in which the car is necessoty, where walking and public transportation are no longer thought of. Our cities are neglected while everyone moves out to the suburbs. The more spread out, and the more big box stores in large asphalt parking lots, the less of a chance anyone is able to go to walk to a store for a gallon of milk, or for a slice of pizza. The car becomes necessary for every thing outside, and thus, the house becomes bigger, and needs more energy, because it is incorporating more activities, such as recreation, multiple baths, multiple bedrooms, television and game rooms. Oil is being burned while its all getting built, and its getting burned to keep the community going. If all oil production stopped tomorrow, NYC might do ok for a lil bit, but the rest of the country would be put to a stand still, with the cities finally falling last. We've been using oil for only a couple hundred years, and we've already reached peak production.