What We Have To Recognize About Overused Highways...

and commuting, when unnecessary, by car (I know" 'How are we going to restructure society geo-socially to alleviate the need for the car?'), that highways are not simply taking up space, they are really some kind of barriers of stupidity (and, I know, a lot of persons are in denial, about this, and not to say people aren't somewhat stupid without suffering this ailment), due to the effects (denied seemingly from the top-down, via media) of automobile pollution. In light of coming to recognize this problem myself, I am not as sure about the 'cash for clunkers; program as I once was, because some of those cars were perfect candidates for what would fuel a home-built electric car revolution, if the proper battery were discovered, of which I recently read of one candidate: a magnesium battery developed at a university in Israel (sounds very promising). Why wasn't the goverment considering the wastefulness, in that respect, I wonder? It is difficult indeed, especially because that sufeit of steel was furthermore funneled through automobile manufacturers, as they were doubly-bailed-out when steel prices dropped, as they were being bolstered by government awarded subsidies to produce more vehicles. It simply seems to me as if raising taxes on gasoline would have been a more appropriate method for reducing noxious fuel emissions, more like using the appropriate tool, for the correct purpose (not that we want to conduct surgery, when unnecessary). This move seems to motivate new-car-buying, which also motivates suburban housing markets, which therein results in entrenched, by way of planning, automobile reliance, which, might, arguably, for reasons elaborated by myself, and others, take away from quality of life of drivers, through connectedness, karma, et. al. equally as much as by virtue of the time spent on the road, even when particles are filtered by a cabin-air-filter.
Small steps are what is necessary, in the spirit of Noam Chomsky's advice in "Class Warfare w/ David Barsamian, to consider a new variable in your decisions, and minimize, ameliorate problematic things. Living a life that is responsible. Supporting the idea of trying to design less-explosive, lightweight, biologically-safe batteries, and more efficient solar panels are part of the solution, as is city-planning, and, relatedly, fields of governance. However, I think collective action against societal trends which buck the idea of restraint, and consideration will, clearly, foster noticeable improvements in quality of life, in general, which is an aim worth thinking about, at the very least.