Los Angeles--Ahead to the Past

Los Angeles is a perculating sea of change and has been for over 150 years. Having lived in LA from the early 1930's to the early 1960's I witnessed many of these changes and most were detrimental, or so it seemed to me. But sometimes changes are actually beneficial to the people and environment. One that Mayor Villaraigosa just announced is particularly noteworthy. The Mayor of our country's most populous city in our largest state announced that the city was to embark on the construction of electric car infrastructure that eventually would make electrical charging of electric vehicles the standard. This is a step that can help clean the badly polluted air in the region and eliminate some dependency upon oil for transportation. Totally electric cars are not common now , but many manufacturers are developing their versions and various types are expected to be available in the forthcoming years.

These changes are very welcome and ultimately they will occur throughout our country when the price of electric battery-powered cars and vehicles becomes affordable to most people. There was a time in LA when electric powered street cars and buses provided effective and affordable public transportation. From childhood to adulthood I used such transportation to travel long distance for work and recreational purposes. The electric mode of bus and streetcar transportation in LA was, however, aborted by corporate and political powers in the 1950's when the electric street cars and buses were eliminated and the lines were converted to roadways for gasoline-powered cars. This was accomplished when the then Mayor of LA (affectionately known as "cabbage head Poulson, for reasons that are self-deduced) was influenced by the auto manufacturers who were salivating to create a huge market for their internal combustion cars. All electric transportation soon disappeared from the public streets of greater Los Angeles. Traffic gridlock and horrendous air pollution was the ultimate result.

Now LA under the leadership of another mayor is about to take a U-turn and return to electric powered vehicles. Unfortunately, this U-turn will only lead to limited public benefit since the gridlock will continue since electric lines dedicated to public transportation alone will be difficult to reconstruct. Nonetheless,perhaps a century from now LA may be a place where the air is cleaner and and the lands less contaminated by petroleum products. This assumes that centralized power generation is relatively pollution free by then as it should and must.

Los Angeles should be awarded an A for effort if the mayor's plan really takes hold. Perhaps the city's U-turn to the past will help create a better future. If other metropolitan areas replicate the LA plan successfully we will all benefit wherever we live in the USA. Go LA!