Comments on: Cabs Go Cool… and Green

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Tue, 20 May 2008 16:09:31 +0000

I recently saw a green cab in DC! Hopefully there will be more in coming months.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Tue, 20 May 2008 08:09:31 +0000

I recently saw a green cab in DC! Hopefully there will be more in coming months.

By: Eva

Eva — Fri, 16 May 2008 12:52:56 +0000

I’m all about reducing our dependence on cars – no one in my immediate family even owned one from around 1990 to 1997 or so, which is nice, although I can’t say I enjoyed walking a few kms to hockey practice with all my gear – but like the planes, Tim, I can’t see getting rid of them entirely.

For one thing, we’re always going to need ambulances, school buses, fire trucks and police vehicles – which means we’re always going to need reasonably well-maintained roads for them to travel along. (Which means we’re always going to need dump trucks, cement mixers, construction vehicles…) And even in the cities that are most well-served by public transit, taxis are a huge part of the equation.

Urban areas can (and should) go a long way to reducing car culture, but the simple fact is that in the country, cars are a lifeline. And how about tractors and other engine-powered large-scale farming equipment?

Finding ways to make engines burn cleaner and do less damage seems like just about the only way forward to me – doing away with the internal combustion engine entirely gives me visions of women dying in childbirth in their homes and near-slaves working in the fields, because low-cost labor is the only way to turn a profit on a manually-harvested crop. Unless I am missing something huge here?

By: Eva

Eva — Fri, 16 May 2008 04:52:56 +0000

I'm all about reducing our dependence on cars - no one in my immediate family even owned one from around 1990 to 1997 or so, which is nice, although I can't say I enjoyed walking a few kms to hockey practice with all my gear - but like the planes, Tim, I can't see getting rid of them entirely.

For one thing, we're always going to need ambulances, school buses, fire trucks and police vehicles - which means we're always going to need reasonably well-maintained roads for them to travel along. (Which means we're always going to need dump trucks, cement mixers, construction vehicles...) And even in the cities that are most well-served by public transit, taxis are a huge part of the equation.

Urban areas can (and should) go a long way to reducing car culture, but the simple fact is that in the country, cars are a lifeline. And how about tractors and other engine-powered large-scale farming equipment?

Finding ways to make engines burn cleaner and do less damage seems like just about the only way forward to me - doing away with the internal combustion engine entirely gives me visions of women dying in childbirth in their homes and near-slaves working in the fields, because low-cost labor is the only way to turn a profit on a manually-harvested crop. Unless I am missing something huge here?

By: Tim Patterson

Tim Patterson — Fri, 16 May 2008 04:23:11 +0000

Wow. That’s awesome guys. Although I still think that the most important thing we can do is to learn to live without cars, not develop new ones that run on alternative fuels – there is no such thing as an environmentally friendly car and probably never will be.

By: Tim Patterson

Tim Patterson — Thu, 15 May 2008 20:23:11 +0000

Wow. That's awesome guys. Although I still think that the most important thing we can do is to learn to live without cars, not develop new ones that run on alternative fuels – there is no such thing as an environmentally friendly car and probably never will be.

By: Julie

Julie — Thu, 15 May 2008 18:13:37 +0000

I rented a hybrid recently and after about 10 minutes spent trying to figure out how to turn the car on (it’s keyless), I realized it WAS on… you’re right; it’s quiet.

By: Julie

Julie — Thu, 15 May 2008 10:13:37 +0000

I rented a hybrid recently and after about 10 minutes spent trying to figure out how to turn the car on (it's keyless), I realized it WAS on… you're right; it's quiet.

By: ian

ian — Fri, 09 May 2008 03:14:35 +0000

The first time I rode in a hybrid taxi, I couldn’t even believe it was running – so quiet! It’s great to see big cities adopting these green changes, but isn’t a surprise, considering NYC is already a beacon of green living (by necessity). Take that LA!

By: ian

ian — Thu, 08 May 2008 19:14:35 +0000

The first time I rode in a hybrid taxi, I couldn't even believe it was running – so quiet! It's great to see big cities adopting these green changes, but isn't a surprise, considering NYC is already a beacon of green living (by necessity). Take that LA!