If you want an inconvenient truth, there it is: that the very notion of convenience upon which our civilization rests is a lie that is killing us. (Garret Keizer, Harper`s)
The line was way too long for 2:30 in the morning. I was waiting in JFK after getting off my flight from Panama, and I had no interest in standing for an hour on line. Unfortunately, the choice wasn`t mine...customs officials are not known for their leniency. So I waited with the hundred or more passengers for the opportunity of being questioned by a tired-looking, grumpy government official.
slowly, the line inched forward. Amazingly, I made it to my turn, and began a conversation that lasted much longer than I`d hoped. My interrogator displayed much more energy than I`d expected. I passed the test, and moved on to search the airport bowels for my suitcase. Upon finding it, my ordeal was almost complete. When I finally met my parents in the terminal lobby, we headed out to the expansive parking complex. I say "complex" because "lot" would not do justice to the sheer size of the place. It's huge, and for good reason.
I was back in America, and Americans love big. Especially when it comes to cars. We just can't do with a car that gets us around, fits the groceries, and isn't going to flatten the other car in an accident. We need a tank. Driving is war, and a soldier doesn't go into battle without the best weapons. Everyone knows that. If I hadn't been living in Brazil for the last 3 years, i probably wouldn't have been so shocked at the state of passenger vehicles in the U.S. Yes, I have always been a bit surprised when I see people driving around Manhattan in a Hummer, a truck that demands about three parking spaces. However, when you reside in a country in which most cars could fit in the trunk of a Ford Expedition, coming back to New York never ceases to take my breath away.
I got to thinking. If people, especially Americans, keep buying these behemoths, can climate change be avoided, or even slowed down? These people, who drive these SUVs, are actually going to go along with a paradigm shift that requires us to consume less? To live smaller? Can we actually live with that culture shock? Do Americans, on average, really care about the effect of greenhouse gases on Sub-Saharan African countries?
The JFK airport parking lot, in the next few years, may hold the answer.
5 comments:
daddy dan,
I cannot agree more. When I see these ridiculous hummers in Hoboken I want to scream. First, how do they pay for the gas? Second, what are we thinking as a nation? We know the crisis is coming? Are we this stupid? Sadly, yes I suppose.
We shed our vehicle earlier in the year. It has been a year and surely it makes travel much more difficult, but I would rather feel I am not contributing to the down fall of western civilization.
Buy a Prius!! That is what I will do if we move out of the NYC area. They are amazing vehciles.
I hate to say it but I don't think Americans can do it. First of all, most cities don't have the infrastructure to transport people. Secondly, people love their enormous trucks.
Congress just needs to take one for the team and create quality mass transitm, then start a gas rationing program.
Then maybe people will take the train instead of their hummers.
On a similar note, my brother just sent me this and I thought it related.
walkscore.com - it will tell you how walkable your neighborhood is. Seems like a great tool for anyone who's looking for a new place and doesn't want to rely on a car.
I'm fairly proud of my 86/100!
Our walkscore.com is 97 out of 100!!!! Wow. We also did our address in Portland...84 out of 100...
Quality mass transit is a given. It has to happen and will happen eventually. Hopefully, it will happen before it is too late. What are the cities with transport? NYC/DC/Portland, OR/Boston...is that it?
http://www.thegreenguide.com/quizzes/global_warming_on_the_brain_
while on the subject, try this quiz on global warming.
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