Politics The Joe Biden Thread

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Shaboid said:
My fingers are still crossed for the fusion reactor that's being researched.
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No question Fusion is the answer. But the best bet to reduce carbon emissions ASAP is fission.

The US needs to build out our capabilities to enrich uranium to up to 19.9% for next gen reactors since Russia is out of the picture. We need fission. Massive fission ASAP.
 
Phatguysrule said:
No question Fusion is the answer. But the best bet to reduce carbon emissions ASAP is fission.

The US needs to build out our capabilities to enrich uranium to up to 19.9% for next gen reactors since Russia is out of the picture. We need fission. Massive fission ASAP.
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I'm not opposed, but that has about the same likelihood as some sort of assault weapons ban.
 
crandc said:
We need more walkable communities, better mass transit, and making electric cars truly an alternative.
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I think walkable communities are not going to happen here anytime soon. American cities are built in such a way that it is not going to happen any-time soon. The investment is already there - and the pandemic has made sure people want to get away from urban environments even more than before.

Electrifying the fleet is the best, and most reasonable solution. Luckily, it seems to is happening even tho a lot of people are kicking and screaming, but most of the auto-makers are finally on-board, it is just a question of time. This is the solution going forward and it seems like both the market and the governments are aligned.
 
andalusian said:
I think walkable communities are not going to happen here anytime soon. American cities are built in such a way that it is not going to happen any-time soon. The investment is already there - and the pandemic has made sure people want to get away from urban environments even more than before.

Electrifying the fleet is the best, and most reasonable solution. Luckily, it seems to is happening even tho a lot of people are kicking and screaming, but most of the auto-makers are finally on-board, it is just a question of time. This is the solution going forward and it seems like both the market and the governments are aligned.
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Yeah, electrifying busses and high speed rail would be the best solution for the US unless we can figure out how to make better batteries out of dirt... Or figure out how to charge cars while they drive.

Also, getting bikes and pedestrians away from cars would be good.
 
Much maligned Berkeley is building housing within easy walking distance of its two BART stations and business districts.
 
crandc said:
Much maligned Berkeley is building housing within easy walking distance of its two BART stations and business districts.
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For sure we should focus on doing so where ever possible.

Also, building "up" more in cities like Portland would be much better than adding neighborhoods in suburbs.
 
crandc said:
Much maligned Berkeley is building housing within easy walking distance of its two BART stations and business districts.
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Be it as it may (and that's not a bad thing), the trend seems to be moving out of urban areas. Maybe it will change once the aftershocks of the pandemic subside.
 
crandc said:
Much maligned Berkeley is building housing within easy walking distance of its two BART stations and business districts.
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Hopefully, it won't be the bullshit they've done in Portland. I'm all in favor of housing near our light rail lines but they've allowed all these massive apartment buildings to be built with no parking for tenants. The neighborhood and residential streets near the apartment buildings are now flooded with cars. People park in front of driveways and garages.
 
SlyPokerDog said:
Hopefully, it won't be the bullshit they've done in Portland. I'm all in favor of housing near our light rail lines but they've allowed all these massive apartment buildings to be built with no parking for tenants. The neighborhood and residential streets near the apartment buildings are now flooded with cars. People park in front of driveways and garages.
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Terrible planning out on the eastside Blue Line for sure. It's better on the west side. They went through a learning curve without question.
 
SlyPokerDog said:
Hopefully, it won't be the bullshit they've done in Portland. I'm all in favor of housing near our light rail lines but they've allowed all these massive apartment buildings to be built with no parking for tenants. The neighborhood and residential streets near the apartment buildings are now flooded with cars. People park in front of driveways and garages.
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This wouldn't be a problem if light rail were free and faster than driving, and if there were free electric busses where there wasn't light rail.
 
Phatguysrule said:
This wouldn't be a problem if light rail were free and faster than driving, and if there were free electric busses where there wasn't light rail.
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To be fair here. It is becoming much less expensive than driving. $20 of gas in stop and go traffic a day is getting tough to handle.
Last i looked a monthly pass was about $100. Maybe more now? Not sure?
 
Fairly-Hard said:
To be fair here. It is becoming much less expensive than driving. $20 of gas in stop and go traffic a day is getting tough to handle.
Last i looked a monthly pass was about $100. Maybe more now? Not sure?
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Solid point...
I don't know if just being cheaper is enough. I think it'll need to be more convenient. Faster.
 
Phatguysrule said:
Solid point...
I don't know if just being cheaper is enough. I think it'll need to be more convenient. Faster.
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The one convenient part is you can sit there and relax. Look at your phone. Work online if you need to. Even read a book if you want?
Doesn’t save a bunch of time but you can accomplish some things in that time?
 
Fairly-Hard said:
The one convenient part is you can sit there and relax. Look at your phone. Work online if you need to. Even read a book if you want?
Doesn’t save a bunch of time but you can accomplish some things in that time?
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True. Great if you have nothing to do before or after work... But I couldn't even consider it.
 
Phatguysrule said:
True. Great if you have nothing to do before or after work... But I couldn't even consider it.
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Oh i understand. The minute you have someplace to go it's completely out of the question.
I tried it though for a while. It simply doesn't work for me. It can put an extra 3-4 hours on a couple simple errands with Bus transfers and waiting at stops.
 
crandc said:
When I worked at Genentech I took BART every day. Didn't take much longer than sitting in traffic. I walked there, a mile each way, then read. Amazing how many books I was able to read those years.
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I would have about 2 miles to walk each way, then the time just on the bus/max would be 2hrs each way. I'd have 5hrs per day commuting. Would love to just read a book or work on a 45 minute commute if they could make it as fast as driving a car...
 
crandc said:
My point. Transit needs to be more convenient.
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Not a reasonable option for America without re-designing the way American cities are currently built. LA is the most dense city in California. It's population density is a fifth of the density in, say, Paris. NYC is the most dense city in the US and it's density is about twice as much as LA, which still means it less than 1/2 of the density of Paris.

The size of public transportation that would be required in the US to handle the physical size of our cities makes it an unreasonable option. It will cost too much. Much better to invest in charging infrastructure and converting the fleet to electric.
 
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