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0 pointsbabesh12y ago0 comments

I am claiming that Google and other companies are doing what is economically expedient for them.

Libertarian techies: Peter Thiel, Marc Andressen, Ron Conway, that VC pushing the division of California. I also don't think that Larry Page is a liberal for good or ill. How is having your own private jet environmentally friendly? One flight on that thing will pollute more than his Prius will in its lifetime.

Prior to the buses very few people were willing to commute from SF to Mountain View. They had to choose to live closer. The buses very greatly expanded the distance. Almost everyone who graduated from Berkeley who went to work in the Valley moved there. Commuting from Emeryville would draw crazed expressions. You're probably pushing 50 miles each way.

Edit: Before the company shuttles picked you up at the Caltrain stop near the office. Now the company shuttle picks you up near your home bypassing Caltrain.

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seanmcdirmid12y ago

Are you talking about techies or rich entrepreneurs? These are quite different groups of people. I work/talk to many well known techies, and none of them have libertarian tendencies; quite the opposite sans the occasional non-libertarian conservative.

Emission from a jet is significant, but gets diluted over a wider range. The problem with pollution is mainly concentration and failure to disperse, and become absorbed (carbon dioxide and other pollutants occur naturally, but concentrations of them are a big problem, especially when inversions occur).

Those kids at Berkeley would probably never have worked at Google MV if they couldn't live in the city.

babeshOP12y ago

Some venture capitalists and some entrepreneurs. But those include some who haven't hit it big yet.

How much pollution does a 737 emit on takeoff and landing? That sure isn't being dispersed. Try parking near SJ airport for a few days. You'll find your car coated.

Like I said, it's for economic expediency... A perk to attract workers but with potential environmental cost.

prodigal_erik12y ago

Prior to the buses, far more tech jobs were in the valley, so techies pretty much had to move or commute. Buses not only allow people to commute rather than moving, they allow valley companies to compete for people who would otherwise take jobs in SF because that's where they want to live.

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