11.02.07
Consequences of Choices
Here in Southern California, where we are starting to get a handle on the fires that forced up to half a million people to flee their homes, it is curious to see how the decisions that our politicians make (and the developers that pay for their campaigns carry out) affect our lives.
Many of these fires are believed to have been caused by downed power lines in areas that are prone to regular doses of fast-moving winds. You have to wonder why these wires are suspended in the air in such areas. Surely it is less than the cost of the 2003 and 2007 fires to bury the wires in the most dangerous areas, perhaps running them through non-conductive, moisture-resistant piping in order to minimize power losses due to contact with the ground. Likewise, it is foolhardy to ignore the need to put solar and wind generation capability right there in those areas, near the housing that necessitates their existence. (In fact, I’d say that each home should have the ability to generate at least half of its annual consumption from non-polluting sources.)
Just as surely, turning down some requests to build in "edge" areas most prone to fire and to unwanted wildlife interactions and requiring non-flamable building materialswhen permits are granted is just common sense.
California is reaping the consequences of the land-use choices of its local communities. Rather than deciding to integrate multiple types of housing and multiple employers and industries into common neighborhoods where there is less need to spend hours on the freeway each day, there are sometimes completely separate municipalities for industrial, commercial, and residential uses. For the residential cities, known as "bedroom communities", the way to increase the tax base is to build more housing, as newer and more expensive homes generate more taxes than older homes built when prices were lower.
I am currently about seventy miles from home, near the coordination center for the disaster-relief efforts. It took meover an hour to drive the twenty miles to work today. Over an hour! That is difficult to imagine, so let me put it into perspective. Most of us can ride a bicycle twenty miles per hour. Why does it take so long to travel such a short distance? Because local governmental leaders throughout Southern California are not willing to be honest with their constituents and tell us that we will have to sacrifice for a while in order to avoid a soon-coming hardship that could end our way of life.
I guess we get the leadership we deserve. If we required honest, forward-looking leadership, we would not be in this situation. Since we do not require it, we do not and will not get it.
Powered by Bleezer
