Re: [asa] climate change severity

Bill Hamilton wrote:
> While I haven't spent enough time in Europe to verify this by my own
> experience, I believe cars are more essential to life in America than in
> Europe. There is much less in the way of public transportation, and some people
> commute long distances by car (especially in states like California where
> people frequently live a long distance from work to be able to find affordable
> housing). If you're going to spend more time in your car, bigger seems better
> -- more room to get comfortable. Furthermore, we generally have wider city
> streets, which makes small cars less necessary. I agree that American cars are
> too big (and too expensive) However, changing that will not be easy.
>
> Bill Hamilton
>
That last statement is all too true. Whatever justification we
provide for it, though, the effects on our health and our environment
are mercilessly indifferent to such rationalizations. Do you think
corporate-minded Americans take a shorter view of history (unable to see
or care much beyond the next quarterly stock report)? Perhaps
Europeans have a more inherent, or experience-based, concern for what it
takes for a society to survive in population-dense conditions over
longer epochs of history. On this side of the puddle we might be more
economically adventurous, more prone to pursue the shorter-term gains
for ourselves. Generalizations are so much fun!

--merv

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Received on Thu Jan 4 23:15:28 2007