Re: A Republican!!!!!! (was Re: OT: sponge burning!)

[Paul Johnson <baloo@ursine.ca>]

Steve Lamb wrote:

> Andrew Sackville-West wrote:
>> Obviously that kind of change can't happen overnight. Its an ugly
>> problem, no matter how you cut it.
> 
>     And that doesn't even come close to talking about the problem that a
> purely electric car has no range at all.  I once scoffed at Harley
> Davidson "touring" motorcycles with a 3 gallon tank.  That's right about 
> 100-120 miles if you run the tank dry.  At the time I was scoffing I knew 
> of some areas in the west where 120 miles wouldn't get you from one gas 
> station to the next.   

Heck, some parts of the pacific northwest, *twice that* would still leave
you ~20 miles from a gas station.

>     So now imagine trying to drive anywhere in the western half of the US
> where your range is limited to 40 miles.  My daily commute, one way, is 40
> miles.  In short such a vehicle would, on a daily basis, make me worry
> whether I have to push it the last few feet into my parking space!

Most people choose to live closer to work than you do, too.  Some states
prohibit cities from sprawling far enough out to make commutes of that
length impossible without driving to an entirely different metropolis. 
Cities that care about their transportation future do that, and provide
adequate public transportation.