Science Friday had some interesting segments today, including "The Secret Life of the Sonaran Desert."
It was live before an audience at (I think) Arizona State University, with Q&A, and one woman asked (paraphrasing): "I moved here in '93, and the amount of expansion into the desert is astonishing. What can we do about it?"
One of the scientists gave a rather bland answer, agreeing with her and discussing urban sprawl, etc., but I think he should have simply said, "Lady, it's expanding because you and I moved here!"
People think it's always the other guy.
Bingo
ReplyDeleteI am not sure whether you should individualize this problem. To a large extend it is also due to the system. That same lady may have bought an apartment in the centre had she lived in Europe, where you can get around well by foot and with a bike and less well with a car, where the population density is sufficient to support public transport, where the inner cities are alive and you do not do your shopping in a mall along the highway, and so on.
ReplyDeleteAnd also here, the people that used to live at the edge of a city, complain the most that they no longer live close to nature.