What with all the threats on the world's oil supply from Iran and others it's really really time to go renewable...

[hunter]

10. It's time we stop worshiping automobiles...

... and stop sacrificing the earth's natural environment and our own health to them.

Renewable energy isn't going to save us. We have to quit fossil fuels entirely. That will require something more than intermittent energy resources and batteries.

The most effective thing we can do is to rebuild our cities, turning them into attractive affordable places where car ownership is unnecessary. The people with the smallest environmental footprints generally live in cities and don't own cars. They also enjoy mostly vegetarian diets.

A car free lifestyle is not something that has to be forced on everyone.

If living in cities is so unpleasant, why does it cost so much to live in them?

For example, Zillo says my great great grandparent's house in San Francisco (which my great grandmother and her sister sold long ago) is now worth over $5,000,000. I imagine it's a very nice place to live.

Owning a car is not any sort of "freedom." I resent the fact that I'm forced to own a car in our society to be considered a fully functional adult. The external appearance of my old used cars reflects that resentment. I like it that I can ignore scratches and dings that are functionally irrelevant, which can be much relief to the drivers who make them, especially when I tell them not to worry about it.

Car breakdowns and high gasoline prices can be devastating to people living on the edge of financial ruin. What's the point of a society that worships automobiles and tortures people who can't pay the tithes?