The Golden for Jackson County campaign isn't a series of speeches from the Answer Man. It's a conversation, because the energy and ideas that will build a great community will come from all corners of this Valley. We'll tell you what we think, but we have to hear from you. too. That's the purpose of this blog. Come find out what the campaign's all about.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Mistakes we don't have to keep making

The ongoing oil volcano erupting torrents of oil into the Gulf right now (and more oil this second...and more now...and more now) rarely leaves my mind during this campaign. It's not just a stunning symbol of where past decisions have brought us. It's a grim guide for the decisions we're making today.

Right now in Jackson County we're in the midst of deciding how and where to accommodate growth for next fifty years, as our population grows from about 200,000 to an estimated 400,000. Maybe it would be a good idea if we had live video from the Gulf of Mexico nearby as we make these decisions. This accident happened at the deepest underwater well there is, as we push further and further, to the limits of our competence and past, for enough oil to fuel the daily movement of hundreds of millions of cars.

I've heard plenty of people in the Valley agree that our one-person-per-car doesn't make a lot of sense. "Too bad," many have said, "that we're too spread out here to make public transportation work efficiently." Well, the decisions we're making now will likely determine whether we're still saying that in 10, 15, 25 years, or whether we'll configure ourselves, like almost all of the advanced world, where there are practical, convenient alternatives to your private car.

Of course, if we do that, we might not get to see a lot more pictures like the one above. I think I could handle that.
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1 comment:

  1. Dan DavisJune 15, 2010 at 11:33 AM

    Dave, really, solar and wind energy can not solve our problems alone - they are both limited and intermittent. First and foremost in solutions has to be conservation, the cheapest and least intrusive solution, with the most savings available. (see energytrust.org - doing great things in Oregon). We need a full basket of solutions, including also biodiesel, cellulosic (non-corn) ethanol, geothermal, methane recovery, Carbon sequestration,etc. not simplistic solutions as they all have some downside.

    We also need Jeff and more like him in political office to really solve problems for people first - not just just enriching buddies and donors .

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Here's where we'd like to here from you, on this topic or others that bear on life in Jackson County. Thanks.

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