interview > lovins > lovins 11

Lovins 11 (1:37)
Topic(s): Car Culture / Future Transport / Government
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Video Transcript

What we're really after is not mobility, per say, that's only a means to an end; we're wanting to be in the particular places so the best way to get access to where we want to be is to be there already so we don't need to go somewhere else. That means more sense of the land use and that is easier to get if, for example, we stop mandating and subsidizing sprawls so we'll have less of it. Other countries have figured this out pretty well ours is pretty primitive in its land use. We mandate dispersion by use even by income so as to have the maximum amount of running around.

And then, if you're already where you want to be — so, for example, my commute to work is about ten yards across the jungle as I live and work in the same building—that's ideal for many of us, if you've got what organic communities have: the ability to walk or bike to where you want to be within ten minutes, five minutes preferably. The new urbanist movement has shown you get much higher property values, higher quality of life, stronger families- it really fits the American dream a whole lot better than having to jump in your car to get anything. If you still need to get around, the next best way would be virtual mobility. Move the electrons, leave the heavy nuclei at home.