Waiting For HUMU

Several threads of thought here.

Seattle, as many of you probably know, is the only major city on the West Coast without a rapid transit system. We're working on it.....I went to a public meeting tonight, first of three, about the failure of the Seattle Monorail Project to produce a workable financial plan after three years of ditzing around and spending 170 million bucks. Depressing. I've lived here for almost 40 years. I remember when the voters here voted down a light rail system that would have been subsidized 90% by the Feds. Atlanta got the system instead. We are slowly building light rail here, but I wonder if it will live up to the promise. I wonder if citizens here, and everywhere, will forego their petty little comforts and their leftover 19th century rugged individualism when faced with the degradation caused urban sprawl and global warming.

George Bush is in Europe trying to convince them that the Earth is flat and that global warming is a myth. He likely sees himself standing ground and protecting American business. I see him as an arrogant embarrassment and, perhaps, the most ignorant leader in the western world. His dictum, "The American Lifestyle is Non-negotiable" brings us back to my first thought: will we give up our petty comforts when faced with catastrophic climate change?

The fight is on for Sandra Day O'Connor's seat on the Supremes. The fight has been characterized both as a fire fight and a debate among people of conscience. I would love to believe that those folks presently in power are actually moved by genuine conscience; my suspicion is that it's just power/money lust dressed up in pretend decency clothing. Science has been replaced by religious ideology; Congress stays up all night posturing/worrying about Terry Schiavo but cares little for Iraqi civilians and uninsured American kids; George Bush wants to revamp Social Security which is probably ok for the foreseeable future, but ignores global warming which could cause catastrophic climate change beginning before he leaves office.

I'm optimistic, though, in large part because being a pessimist doesn't change the future. Putting solar on our house and trying to be aware of our footprint on the planet, has at least given us a sense of empowerment in the absence of leadership.

HUMU will be back on the street in a week and I can continue musing over my internal questions: Does the environmental advertising of driving a Prius offset the damage to the planet it causes?