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Monday, April 2, 2012
Portland gets a number 1 (hopefully they won't take this away)
Once T&L realizes that half of Portland's power generation is definitely NOT green (as compared to Seattle's 90% green power); and that much of Portland's power comes at a huge environmental price - a power plant in Boardman, fueled by coal, and built specifically to skirt environmental regulations; a massive landfill not too far from said power plant, requiring some 80 trucks a day to run through the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area.
Or that less than 5% of trips taken are by transit; auto usage still as an 80% travel share; Portland's carpool program lags behind anyone else. Portland is sprawling just like any other city - 40 miles from Troutdale to Forest Grove. That much of the Willamette River is heavily polluted, and lined with EPA Superfund sites.
And how about that Vancouver actually predates Portland by 100 years - when Fort Vancouver was established, Portland was nothing but marshes and swamps; so much that Lewis & Clark didn't even mention much about what would become Portland. Most of what is now downtown and N.W. Portland is nothing but fill - can you take a swim in Guild's Lake? Point to Balch Creek. You can't - they're both filled in or covered over.
Portland's streetcar system was actually abandoned a decade before Los Angeles' - and Portland didn't get help from National City Lines, either (NCL didn't own the Portland system). Portland, today, continues to rely on an aging bus fleet that is more polluting than current models, and refuses to "right-size" the bus fleet (smaller vehicles for neighborhood routes that get better fuel economy - a Freightliner Sprinter bus gets three times the miles per gallon as TriMet's 1600 or 1900 series vehicles; or larger buses such as articulated or double-deck buses for higher capacity - more passengers for the same fuel consumption as a 40 foot bus.)
I don't judge a book by its cover. Rip apart the post card, live in the city...there is much more to Portland than the Red Line MAX from PDX to the Convention Center.
How much of that (e.g. the power consumption) does the city control? (And doesn't PGE have the highest green power enrollment?) Isn't it true that, given the extra weight of the bigger vehicle and more riders, an articulated or double-decker bus would consume more fuel?
"How much of that (e.g. the power consumption) does the city control?"
PGE is franchised to do business in the City of Portland. The City could revoke the franchise. So, in reality, quite a bit of control.
"And doesn't PGE have the highest green power enrollment?"
And what is that enrollment? 5% Woo hoo. No. Woo. Hoo.
"Isn't it true that, given the extra weight of the bigger vehicle and more riders, an articulated or double-decker bus would consume more fuel?"
And isn't it true, Jason, that while the vehicle itself would have slightly worse fuel economy when compared on a vehicle miles per gallon basis, the larger vehicle actually carries much more passengers - and as a result on a passenger-mile-per-gallon basis which truly represents the work done by the vehicle, the larger vehicle gets better fuel economy.
But, hey, enjoy Balch Creek in that nice big concrete viaduct as it passes through N.W. Portland. (It's that black, dotted line on the map you were so generous in sharing...you know, that creek you can't see because it's covered by urban sprawl in the City of Portland.) Oh, yeah, the same city that frequently dumps human waste in Fanno Creek - a NOT capped creek home to one of the region's premier parks and bike trails...and not in Portland.
Once T&L realizes that half of Portland's power generation is definitely NOT green (as compared to Seattle's 90% green power); and that much of Portland's power comes at a huge environmental price - a power plant in Boardman, fueled by coal, and built specifically to skirt environmental regulations; a massive landfill not too far from said power plant, requiring some 80 trucks a day to run through the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area.
ReplyDeleteOr that less than 5% of trips taken are by transit; auto usage still as an 80% travel share; Portland's carpool program lags behind anyone else. Portland is sprawling just like any other city - 40 miles from Troutdale to Forest Grove. That much of the Willamette River is heavily polluted, and lined with EPA Superfund sites.
And how about that Vancouver actually predates Portland by 100 years - when Fort Vancouver was established, Portland was nothing but marshes and swamps; so much that Lewis & Clark didn't even mention much about what would become Portland. Most of what is now downtown and N.W. Portland is nothing but fill - can you take a swim in Guild's Lake? Point to Balch Creek. You can't - they're both filled in or covered over.
Portland's streetcar system was actually abandoned a decade before Los Angeles' - and Portland didn't get help from National City Lines, either (NCL didn't own the Portland system). Portland, today, continues to rely on an aging bus fleet that is more polluting than current models, and refuses to "right-size" the bus fleet (smaller vehicles for neighborhood routes that get better fuel economy - a Freightliner Sprinter bus gets three times the miles per gallon as TriMet's 1600 or 1900 series vehicles; or larger buses such as articulated or double-deck buses for higher capacity - more passengers for the same fuel consumption as a 40 foot bus.)
I don't judge a book by its cover. Rip apart the post card, live in the city...there is much more to Portland than the Red Line MAX from PDX to the Convention Center.
How much of that (e.g. the power consumption) does the city control? (And doesn't PGE have the highest green power enrollment?) Isn't it true that, given the extra weight of the bigger vehicle and more riders, an articulated or double-decker bus would consume more fuel?
ReplyDeletePoint to Balch Creek
ReplyDeleteYou mean this Balch Creek?
"How much of that (e.g. the power consumption) does the city control?"
ReplyDeletePGE is franchised to do business in the City of Portland. The City could revoke the franchise. So, in reality, quite a bit of control.
"And doesn't PGE have the highest green power enrollment?"
And what is that enrollment? 5% Woo hoo. No. Woo. Hoo.
"Isn't it true that, given the extra weight of the bigger vehicle and more riders, an articulated or double-decker bus would consume more fuel?"
And isn't it true, Jason, that while the vehicle itself would have slightly worse fuel economy when compared on a vehicle miles per gallon basis, the larger vehicle actually carries much more passengers - and as a result on a passenger-mile-per-gallon basis which truly represents the work done by the vehicle, the larger vehicle gets better fuel economy.
But, hey, enjoy Balch Creek in that nice big concrete viaduct as it passes through N.W. Portland. (It's that black, dotted line on the map you were so generous in sharing...you know, that creek you can't see because it's covered by urban sprawl in the City of Portland.) Oh, yeah, the same city that frequently dumps human waste in Fanno Creek - a NOT capped creek home to one of the region's premier parks and bike trails...and not in Portland.