[Enchantress]

Originally Posted by betenoire

I was thinking in terms of public/mass transit, not in terms of smart cars and hybrids and such.

Of course I realise that you (like everybody else) are basically at the mercy of the city/town you live in when it comes to this - but I really do see taking the bus as the best option for just about everybody.

Most places I have been (even the crappy town of 30k people that I live in currently) have accessible public transit. If a town doesn't have accessible transit (I'm talking about buses that kneel, have ramps, have seats that fold back so wheelchairs can fit, q-straint systems in place, etc) the town will -get- accessible transit if enough people make enough of a fuss.

Of course it is less convenient than owning a car, but it's certainly not unmanageable. People (in urban areas) who drive are CHOOSING to drive, they are certainly not forced to do so. I haven't had a car in about 8 years and I've gotten by just fine.

(Everything I said above applies only to people living in urban and suburban areas. Of course I get that if you live in a rural area there is no public transit. )

I must agree with you.

When I lived in the PNW (Portland to be exact), I did not have a car (I had donated it to the Cancer Society before moving there).

I had only taken a bus once in my life (I think I was ten) and I did not like it. Therefore, I had always driven. I never would have imagined that I could live without a vehicle.

Yet, I did just that(and thrived).

To its credit, Portland has excellent public transit and many there take it (down to the CEO's of companies). One does need to tailor their life a bit when doing so, however. But as Betenoire stated it is not unmanageable (i.e. grocery shopping a couple of times a week ala the European way instead of weekly).

I love my car, but as a visitor (yep, visitor for we don't own it) here on Earth, I would gladly give up (Yes, I know it would be very difficult) cars and oil based products to clean up the environment.

It scares me to think where we (as a society) will be in 20 years if our dependence on such products continues. It's only bound to get worse.

As for not boycotting BP, I feel that it's our duty to do so. I understand that there are individuals who will be impacted. But by not standing up, we are, for all intents and purposes, telling them (BP) that we don't really care.

Actions (as they say) speak louder than words