My money is on the congestion tax that the mayor of London keeps crowing about.

If you want to drive your car in town during "congestion" hours, you pay a toll via the RF tag on your car. They just love it and every govt parasite is begging to take a field trip to figure how to implement it here.

If this concept gets any traction at all by the car hater in Portland, it is verifiable proof and can be said the communist mindset is alive and well among those car haters.

The mix of emotional frustrations which are expressed (by Lars, for example, and the Larsians) variously as anger at 'car haters' or at 'bad bicyclists' or at 'toy train builders' is the anger stage (5th) of grief. Grief is human-nature response to loss -- so what IS 'the loss' which causes the prevalent grief which some, (such as Larsians), express inordinately loudly as hot-headed anger? 'You bad car hater kids get off my lawn, you're awful and you're intruding on my steady stable life-course.'

Answer: Loss of Planet Oil
And nothing you can do can stop the loss, except if U & I can deconstruct and stop 'Big Oil' sector-of-the-economy at the rate 'they' are going ... at killing and finishing off Planet Oil.

'Car haters,' 'bad bicyclists,' 'toy train builders,' (and other blame-targets of angry grievers), are merely people anticipating the end of Planet Oil accordingly.
Loss of Planet Oil is a GREAT loss, a loss of 'standard' of living, a loss of way of life. However, the loss is inexorable, inevitable, and U & I HAVE TO accommodate the loss and adjust ourselves to it.

The best political leadership in these times, these 20(?) transition years of partially remaining but ever-more-precious Planet Oil, is in socio-political preparations for our loss. Prepare for diminished car travel. Prepare for proliferating bike travel. Prepare train infrastructure in-place and built for public travel, convenient and frequent.

That's why the 'Clackamas opponents' trying to stop lightrail public transit from connecting into that county is dysfunctional opposition. Planet Oil is close and closer to its end whether they like it or not. Headstrong predetermined resistance cannot win, cannot stop it. Their expression is an angry temper tantrum carrying them blindly into self-defeat. 'I want! to keep and continue living! the only! way of life I have! I cannot imagine how I can elsewise live! with the loss! of Planet Oil.' That's a temper tantrum.

It's one thing to think politically 'Conservative.'
It's another thing to think suicidally stuck.
It is better to process grief and its anger into personal energy directed toward construction of post-Oil facility providing necessities of life, (uh, food&water, clothing, shelter, social integration). It is futile to hate Time, the phenomenon of Time, itself and what's in it, advancing. It is awful to spend one's life time hating the Time (of life).

I'd like to see Clackamas County commissioners direct the installation of the Oil Poster (shown above) on the wall of every classroom (and maybe home) of children in the County. My same aim goes for all the other Counties' commissioners. So guess what, I have given effort and gotten in touch with 'them' personally and conveyed 'this' politicality.

[A good quality source of more discussion, explanation and reference is -- especially the Blog Roll -- at TheOilDrum.com ]

Hey, Tensk, let us know when Planet Oil runs dry. Until then, these unicorn utopian liberals can get the hell off of my cloud.

The measures have the potential to help clean up China’s notoriously dirty air and water, reduce long-term health care costs and improve the long-term quality of Chinese growth.

I can see how profoundly disturbing these ideas are.

Oil running dry or not -
Where are the ideas/cars that years ago could have achieved many more miles to the gallon?
....and other inventive ideas that have been marginalized or bought up by corporations who did not want competitive solutions?

Light rail has been pushed here because it has been tied in with developers and projects,
it moves slow and does not entice getting the public to use them.
Time is of the essence and when it takes hours to get somewhere standing waiting for a bus, transfer to light rail and more bus and so on, instead of 1/2 hour by car, then no great motivator. Subways at least move quickly and can make up some time.

I have brought up before water transportation ideas. Many cities are on waterways as ours is. Time there instead of frustration in the car or light rail can be spent productively, eating breakfast, reading a paper or book, using laptop, etc. So there is a benefit. Apparently, that has been a closed door to that topic here, no immediate density housing tax abated can be tied in with waterways. The same with express buses offering wifi, etc.

Whatever, what I see as an overall problem in our area is the lack of a true discussion back and forth looking for solutions. For example, in our city hearings, citizens can present a 3 minute testimony and then be done with it, there is no time to seriously discuss back and forth matters, as council has the last word and citizens are left out of that discussion. There have been work sessions where the public has not been allowed to even speak!

This would effectively make cars the privilege of the hated 1%.

No problemo--get an old car.

Clinamenand Michelle: You are both absolutely correct.

When the Mitt Romneys of the world start walking or riding a bike to get to wherever they need to go, then I'll consider following suit.

The City of Lake Oswego, through our completely unnecessary and intrusive "Sustainability Office," is now openly discussing their "mission" to "modify our behavior" by telling us we should be walking or biking if our destination is within two miles.

Look, City government should be incorporating sustainability principals in their daily operations to keep the city running efficiently and effectively. And it is certainly acceptable and appropriate for the City to install pathways and bike lanes for recreational and commuting purposes, and for the Parks and Rec Department to offer community walking and biking activities.

Where I get off the train is when city governments decide that personal "behavior modification" and lecturing residents about their transportation choices is within their governing purview. It is not and should not be.

Just run the City by making sure water comes out of my tap when I turn it on, my toilets flush, my garbage is picked up ON A WEEKLY BASIS, the police or ambulance comes if I need them, our public parks and natural areas are maintained, public projects are appropriately prioritized with "needs" at the top of the list and "wants" at the bottom, my taxes and fees are kept as low as possible, and leave "economic development" to the Chamber of Commerce, the private sector, and our free market system.

Otherwise, the City of Lake Oswego should shut the hell up about the transportation choices that I make on a daily basis to assure a well functioning and high quality of life. Those choices, even if they include walking or biking, is NONE of their business.

Yeah, realitybasedliberal, imposing "behavioral modification" is imposing on you. Government ought to let starving to death modify your behavior.

How about 'informational modificationing'? Is that an imposition too far, too, or do you stay on-board the train of modern knowledge? ... you know, like factbasedreality

Yeah Michelle that's the 1%'s idea and aim:: to get people (the public) to slam into the No Oil brick wall without seeing it in coming in advance, talking together about it, and preparing an adjusted style of life -- and the planned result is teh 1% got cars and YOU unprepared don't.
Leading up to then probably is a period of rationing. I have some US ration stamps for gas, sugar, and flour, left over from WWII. Dad got extra gas stamps because he worked in civil engineering construction and needed to drive to remote job sites. Doctors got extra gas stamps. Firemen and cops got extra stamps (to drive to work). Dad made some money by selling his extra gas ration he didn't use. ... such real-world developments are clues of where the 'privileged elite' are leading to ....

clinamen, non-discussion back-and-forth is a big problem. If non-discussion happens because some agent intentionally suppresses discussion, then rout the agent -- so dump Lars off the air. If non-discussion happens because there is not (seen) one problem everyone shares with common interest to seek solutions for, then raise community awareness of 'everybody's problem' where it exists.
See, get aware: Oil Poster in my previous Comment.

realitybasedliberal, I did let you know when Planet Oil runs dry already, shown on Oil Poster -- the Time of 'no oil for you' is in your future sooner than the dissolution of the Union into several independent sovereign nations was in your past, (that is, the dissolved Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, if you remember back then, real.b.s.lib, not so long ago in reality). And no, no one is climbing up on the cloud you're buried in, not to check on you, not to challenge you. But in your isolation, when you get hungry, for food, fellowship, or domestic Tranquility, then come on down off your high horse and see if anyone will give you the Time of day. Got trade? ¿Habla usted el idioma local?

My money is on the congestion tax that the mayor of London keeps crowing about.

The funny, absolutely hysterical thing, is that I asked a PBOT Director or Manager or thereabouts a couple years ago during one of PSU's transportation classes (basically a shrill for more bikes, more streetcars, less anything else) about the congestion charge.

He said that Portland doesn't have the technology to make it work.

Never mind...Portland Police uses the EXACT SAME TECHNOLOGY that TfL uses, on several police cars to automatically locate stolen vehicles. Anyone who has seen the TV Show "Parking Wars" sees the technology used - I believe it's Philadelphia - where the boot crew drives by and the computer beeps at them when it locates a car that has outstanding parking tickets.

And what's worse - Portland has a natural boundary - the I-405 loop - that a Congestion Charge could work. Heck, PBOT could install cameras on all the overpasses and bridges...

Not that I support it...just saying how ignorant Portland's transportation planners are on so many issues, including one that most people would think Portland would just die over.

What about CNG or Propane? What's T Boone doing these days? Any technology advances that could delay the end of Planet Oil?

This is what happens when cities grow too fast. Portland's mania for growth, which might engender a policy such as this or worse, stems from the mistaken notion that liberals have that no one but themselves can address social issues with any intelligence. They miss the point that American groups, including religious fundamentalists, spend actually quite a lot of effort solving poverty problems in other countries, so that those people can stay THERE! The mistaken liberal idea is that poor people must come to the United States, since there are no opportunities at home.

This is why they keep telling us to plan for an extra few million people around here and are willing to inflict high cost solutions and "social justice" political agendas.

As I read, I was waiting for the approving quote from Tom Friedman.