Re:We can do better than “same, but electric”
by JKCalhoun on Tuesday March 29, 2022 @09:03AM
(#30841983)
> The right answer probably does include public infrastructure at a vast scale, but, our government cannot afford it…
I'm not convinced of that. If the will were there, I am confident we could totally afford it.
Re:We can do better than “same, but electric”
by netsharc on Tuesday March 29, 2022 @09:42AM
(#30842410)
I agree, the idea that the government can't afford it is odd. When the lockdowns started, both parties quickly agreed to the pandemic bailout, because well, saying no would've meant political suicide.
The US will never suffer Greece or Venezuela-style bankruptcy because the whole world will go down with it considering the US dollar's status. And what is credit other than trust, if I loan Bob some money I trust Bob will be able to pay it back, now Bob might get hit by a truck or start a gambling habit and his ability to pay me back would be reduced/gone, but the USA will always have income in the form of tax from productive people paying them.
Then again maybe that's too simplistic, the USA could suffer an even worse political gridlock than what it currently has and grind to a halt.
Bikes are of course great, and fitness is great. But, here in Colorado, even an E bike is impractical for the vast majority of simple errands simply because of distance. If you respond with "move to a city" you are failing in empathy. The existence of long distance trips with probably bad weather make bikes not the right answer for the vast majority of people outside of major cities in America.
The right answer probably does include public infrastructure at a vast scale, but, our government cannot afford it, and it is not a foregone conclusion that the environmental impact of major construction of infrastructure is better than that of electric cars.
The reason this is not a solved problem is because simple answers like "buy a bike" are not actually answers, they are deflections. As are the answers like, "there is no solution except a pickup truck".
edit: removed sarcastic comment.