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" I agree that mass transportation is one of the most underused means of transportation in our country. Yet I'm amazed that even down on campus at U of I, they have an excellent and well-utilized bus system, which proves to me that it can be done. "

" I would be interested in hearing the possibilities of greener transportation. The Oak Ridge National Laboratories have recently published a new edition of their Energy Data Book. It shows that inter-city rail is the most efficient user of energy in the area of transportation. If the universities are really interested in promoting the most efficient users of energy for transportation they could expect each student to pay their share of the upkeep for each student's parking spaces and roads. An easy way to figure this would be to figure all the money spent on roads and parking lots and divide by the number of users and add that fee to each student and faculty member that uses a car. If these costs were added at the point of use then many people may see the advantage of being green and practical at the same time. Amtrak uses only 2,709 BTUs per passenger mile, while cars use 3,445 BTUs per passenger mile. Even airplanes and Commuter rail are more efficient than cars. "

" The objective of purchasing renewable energy translates into about a 25% spike on your electric bill since January. Green sounds so good but it's ineffective, inefficient and prohibitively expensive without government subsidies, especially wind energy. Wind isn't a free commodity - it costs big bucks to upgrade the transmission lines, a cost not figured in, a cost passed on to consumers. When ISU was looking at a single turbine at their Lexington farm, Corn Belt reported it would cost $500,000 to upgrade their lines just for one turbine. We pay for that - and it's not worth it. The energy will jeopardize our stable energy supply, causing more brownouts and blackouts, not to mention making us beholden to foreign companies for our electriciity as well as our oil. "