In Seattle now

First a couple of revelations I had on the plane today: 1) Don't fly with a head cold. The descent is painful. My ears still haven't depressurized. 2) Seeing Manhattan from the sky exposes it's vulnerability - from above its just a bunch of buildings crammed onto this tiny bit of land surrounded by water. 3) What if all the sprawling, built environment were built green?

Now on the ground, and in the car - my dad's SUV. On the ride home from the airport, the leading news story on the radio was gas prices (that and how the Washington State ferry system is one of the top terrorist targets in the U.S.) Newscasters kept citing how gas prices are nearly topping $3.00 at the pumps. Are people driving less? What do locals have to say about it? Then they'd break for the traffic updates reporting the usual area snarls on I-5 and I-405.

The whole oil - gas guzzler - traffic congestion - air pollution thing just isn't getting through on a wide-spread, individual level even though it seems to be hitting people where it hurts the most - in the pocketbook. What more will it take to change the way we do things?