Remember the war on cars? Well, looks like there is one more battle left. But where are we going to find a local reporter nerdy enough to organize a debate over something as geeky as the battle over the meme “war on cars?”

With fresh news nerd accolades from Seattle Magazine, Erica Barnett at Publicola is hosting the debate … I mean, “wonkfest” … at 7 p.m. next Tuesday at Liberty Bar on Capitol Hill:

She’s invited four local policy nerds—Sightline’s Eric de Place and the Cascade Bicycle Club’s David Hiller, and the Washington Policy Center’s Michael Ennis and Forward Seattle’s Joe Quintana—to sit down and discuss Vehicle Miles Traveled and mode shift. That’s right, PubliCola is hosting a debate about “The War on Cars.”

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Is Seattle’s push to rein in vehicle miles traveled integral to jump-starting a 21st century economy or is it an excessive hold on mobility and business?

Erica will certainly weigh in, but the talk will be moderated by Seattle Channel’s even-keeled C.R. Douglas. (Believe me, Hiller and Ennis—and Erica—will need a moderator.)

It will be a drunken bow-tie, Lycra and taped-rim glasses mess… Or a reasonable and enlightening discussion about avoiding unnecessary hyperbole in discussions about road safety and transportation policy. Let’s just hope there isn’t a pub quiz going on. If there’s one thing that can distract a nerd from a debate over transportation policy rhetoric, its someone offering free drinks to the first person who can name all five states where the mockingbird is the state bird.