Today is blog action day - so I read this morning. Its a call to arms for all bloggers to write about a single subject - the environment, quelle surprise!
Im certainly not an 'environmental sceptic' - I majored in Environmental Science back in the UK - this was not a 'town planning' degree - this was hard core, nuclear physics, environmental chemistry - 3 branches, microbiology and an awful lot of math (not quite sure why.) So, I think Im reasonably well versed in all things environment - we do our bit here in our piece of Colorado with recyling and the like. We even signed up for solar panels which I hope are going to come some time next year - I can not wait to see that electricity meter go into reverse!
Here comes the flameworthy retoric. I do take everything that a certain peace prize winning politician says and does with a pinch of salt - yes, the world is warming, I dont think you can ignore that. But some of the 'scare tactics' used are worthy of MCCarthy and his 'reds under the bed'. Yes, America needs to wake up - the $1 gallon has gone and running vehicles that get 12 mpg is madness if not for the environment then for your pocket at least.
But car manufacturers need to wake up too - a Volkswagen in Europe that maybe has a 1.1 liter engine and gets 40 mpg miraculously turns up over here sporting a 2.0L turbo - why? To cater for the American thirst for power? The roads here are almost as bad as the UK for congestion, why have all that power? We'll be measuring performance using the 0-30mph yardstick soon because 60 is a distant memeory on our roads. The weather dude this morning was pointing out that the fog was lifting over Denver, hmm the brown hydrocarbon laden smog appeared to be doggedly hanging on and was doing a great job of obscuring the Rockies - the mountains that is.
What am I getting at - the great American obsession with cars? Maybe ... You can have the best light rail systems in the country but if folks still want to sit in their own metal boxes, sipping coffee, spewing fumes, it aint worth it. Re-education is the key, not scare mongering.
Thats it - I have made comment on the environment, I could go on, but I wont - you're relieved I can tell. The only tenuous link back to BIP that I can come up with is that Mike, our PM owns a Prius!
Comments (3)
It's interesting that Prius is not even leading the pack (see http://bexhuff.com/2007/10/prius-ranked-less-green-than-mini-cooper-d).
"Re-education" is a tricky thing, especially with something like the car - where the buying decision is coloured by the full spectrum of human emotion and behaviour (rational and not). But I can be pretty sure it is not the major car companies that will lead the way .. established practice and an addiction to a huge revenue stream are anathema to change. They will follow or get pushed kicking and screaming ("we know our customers, and they would _never_ buy a dinky little toy like that!")
Posted by Paul | October 16, 2007 11:13 AM
Posted on October 16, 2007 11:13
Hi Paul Thanks for the link - the 'green car' listing is interesting in 2 ways here:
1. Of the 12 cars only the Prius and Yaris are avaiable here. I have even mailed Peugeot trrying to get them to come back over here - they would clean up and
2. A 1 litre engine here would be almost unheard of over here - the version of the Yaris here starts at 1.5L - bearing out my comment on European cars putting on a little weight as they get over here.
Maybe thats the reason - your average American's weight is increasing - we need that extra 1/2 litre to handle the bubble butts we all have here :o)
Posted by Tim Dexter | October 16, 2007 12:13 PM
Posted on October 16, 2007 12:13
lol!
I watched Dog Day Afteroon (1975 - Al Pacino) not so long ago, and I surprised myself when my first though was "Damn, look how skinny all the people walking down the street are!"
Posted by Paul | October 18, 2007 4:56 AM
Posted on October 18, 2007 04:56