Peter Crownfield is officially retired but spends most of his time working with students in his role as internship coordinator for the Alliance for Sustainable Communities–Lehigh Valley.
Gadfly:
This is the type of question-filled discussion that we should see more of. And of course Lehigh should be required to make the case by presenting clear analysis of all the points you listed.
That being said, I think we also need to recognize that
(1) we need to take steps to reduce dependence on individual automobiles, and some of those steps will make auto travel less convenient;
(2) that includes Lehigh’s overuse of small vans for delivering materials and getting around campus — how about electric “golf cart” vehicles that are charged by solar panels or run on fuel cells with the carbon-free hydrogen & oxygen fuel produced from water via solar-powered electrolysis?;
(3) one way to make this happen is to recognize that there will be some problems if Packer is closed, and then to concentrate on solving those problems (instead of using every inconvenience or problem as a reason not to do it).
Peter