1967 R50/2, I looked into this 10 years ago! My in-laws have 2700 acres in Iowa, some of it is set aside for errosion prevention. They do not get money for not growing crops. Only a little for errosion prevention but it actually is a loss. They do it because it is required and it is good for the land.

As far as the errosion prevention is concerned, the ag dept lets you set it aside for up to 7 years and if you wish to plant trees on it, so be it. They actually would like that. After the end if you want to "harvest" them, you can do what you want to.

Supe, you might as well speak for me also. Lord knows I can't make a coherent thought these days.

Lube, how about wildlife reclamation? I thought farmers got paid to set aside some amount of acres and not use it in any way, as part of the whole reclamation deal... Is that part of the erosion prevention or is there something else there?

And, I personally know a family of farmers that got caught sabotoging their farm for the insurance + gov't money. Somehow, they weren't charged with a crime, but they ended up having to file bankruptcy and are back at it. As a whole, most of the farmers I know are honest and wouldn't intentionally destroy their crops.

Funny thing about farmers... They're the first to complain about weather, the government, etc., but they always have brand new pickups, combines, and send 5 children to college.

I'll be glad when it finally becomes irrefutable that humans have had little to no affect on this planet's environment, and it's ability to sustain life. That there isn't, and never has been, "global warming" caused by human presence that can be measured to any significance, and that the entire environmental movement is about money, not the environment.

Zonas - maybe, but the smog in the city ain't from Cows poot'n! The house should be cleaned even if there are not chances of a drop in visitor.

The solution is a twin turbo biodiesel flat six cranking 350 ft/lbs of torque at 3500 rpms in the back of a 911. Make it faster than the current 997 and you'll make a billion before ya know it. Come on people, the environment is an opportunity, not a problem. :D

No, but you're continuing to work on it so there is still hope.;)

And I've noticed the same thing. Whiners sometimes drive very shiny cars.

LOL, You are still trying to promote this bunkus story. I thought you would have given up on this BS claim after I pointed up what a load of crap it was.

Then again you are never one to let the facts get in the way of your opinions and hyperbole.

Like my guns, I'll give up my cars when you have to cut me out of one of em.

Back to public transportation: Peter Egan (R&T) wrote an interesting article about the subject a few years ago. Basically his points were that if we had adequate public transportation, it not only would be something he'd use from time to time, but it would take a significant number of cars off the road, making driving more pleasurable due to the reduced traffic loads.

I tend to agree, but it's gonna be tough to get the average American out of his car. High gas prices might help (Thanks, W ;) ), but for most people, driving one's personal vehicle is far more convenient, and often times cheaper, than using public transit.

Jim

I wonder if private enterprise has considered offering "premium multiperson transport" in some of the major markets, like LA, Seattle, etc? In other words, if there were a comfortable train and/or bus that didn't stop every 2 blocks and offered TIME back to riders, allowing them to read, work online, make calls, etc., they might be onto something.

If there were a bus that got me within a couple blocks of home and office, with good A/C and a quiet and comfy interior, I'd be all over it even if it cost noticably more than driving myself -- it would partially buy me back 90-180 minutes of TIME each day.

L.A. has countless times duped itself out of adequate public transportation. From the 1920s to the 1950s, L.A. had the best mass transit system in the world - which was the Red Car. But then, the freeways started - no pun intended - making deep inroads into L.A.'s infrastructure. Rumors were, Firestone and Standard Oil got into the act, understanding there was $$$ to be had, and bought off the L.A. City Council, who therein voted to pull up the rail lines the Red Car ran on, and destroy all the cars.

Also, the man who designed the monorail that encompasses Disneyland, offered to build a similar system for L.A., which the city could more or less "have" for a very small future fee.

L.A. said no to this.

It was also a thought (in the '50s) that L.A. would never have enough commuters to overload the freeway system. Yeah, right!

Yes, we have a subway now, but it is not nearly as extensive as once hoped. It goes from N. Hollywood to Downtown, but nothing connects to West L.A., Southbay, San Bernardino, Orange County or other destinations.

Fact is, I can see a case in Los Angeles where it is no longer feasible to drive a car. They've become huge deficits to Los Angeles commuters. I don't know about City Council payola or how one can blame short-sidedness for our impacted freeways, but I do know there have been studies that say by 2010, average speed on the L.A. freeways will be 15 mph.

I like what London does: it charges an enormous daily fee for anyone to drive into the downtown area. What people do is drive to a certain point, park, and pull out bikes, skateboards, fold-up scooters and whatever else, then trek into downtown. This seems to help the gridlock and environment. Evidentially, L.A. is looking into a similar plan.

The London congestion charge is about to go up to £8 (~$14) per day. Seems to be working although it'll be hitting business. Still, there are alternatives, you don't have to pay if you have a Prius or similar eco-friendly car.

What's also amazing is that the British and Euro's do the bicycle thing in their terrible climate. I've been driving in Holland through complete downpours and the bicycle lanes are full of folks commuting/shopping on their bikes with a rain slicker. My wife was stunned. She's the type who will actually move her car around a large parking lot as she goes to different stores. :(

Well, some of those outlet malls are enormous.

I think the key is tax breaks. Give up your car, get a generous tax break. Won't happen though with Bush in power, or any other reasonable facsimile thereof.

When I stick to the Toyota - I pay almost as much in tolls as I do for gasoline. Road tolls charge all cars equally. All that money should come out of gas taxes. The heavier the car and the more gas you use - the more you will pay.