I watch people's faces when they see me waiting at a bus stop. Many of them, especially drivers, look at me like I'm doing something vaguely unsavory - like I'm drinking out of a paper bag or flashing "designer" watches for sale....

Most people won't talk about the bus... because most people who live in San Francisco like to believe that they have progressive politics. It's quite difficult for them to admit the awful truth: They simply don't like to be in the same space as poor people.

Why intentionally pay more for gas than it costs? According to CSM members, this is precisely the point: The price of gas in the U.S. doesn’t reflect the actual costs that U.S. society and the global community incur as a result of the country’s dependence on oil. Those costs include fossil fuel’s contributions to air pollution and global warming. Also hidden at the pump are the costs of U.S. strategies to maintain an inexpensive supply of oil, often through political or military interventions in oil-producing regions—not to mention $4 billion a year in tax credits and subsidies to Big Oil.