Two months ago, I wrote how high gas prices may actually be good in that we are beginning to change our often wasteful habits. As a nation, gas consumption is noticeably decreasing. We’re carpooling more, we consolidate errands, we avoid unnecessary trips, and we’re buying smaller cars. I can’t remember the last time larger, more powerful vehicles were out of vogue!
I just read a Time magazine article that discusses things we can like about $4 gas. It’s a great article which not only discusses the sacrifices we have to make, but also looks at the silver lining in terms of the positive adjustments we’ve made to accommodate high gas prices.
So, what can we possible like about $4 gas you ask? According to Amanda:
- As shipping costs increase, more jobs are coming back to the U.S.
- With increasing transportation costs, urban sprawl has dramatically decreased
- JB wrote about this – 4 day workweeks are reality in some companies and governments
- Decreased pollution
- We are more frugal – we check tire pressure more often and are buying smaller cars
- People are driving slower to save gas, which has resulted in fewer traffic deaths
- Insurance rates for some are decreasing as they drive less and qualify for lower mileage rates
- There is less traffic as people drive less, carpool more, and increase their use of public transportation
- With skyrocketing gas bills, police are walking and bicycling more, which means more police spending time in communities
- As people eat out less, obesity decreases
You may not agree with all these points, but Amanda does offer a fairly compelling perspective. We all hate to see people making sacrifices, especially when putting gas in the tank means being unable to put food on the table. However, as Amanda writes, “The suffering will go on. But the story, like any good tragedy, is not without redemption. “
Hey did you hear the news that Utah is implementing a 4-day work week for most of their state workers? The reason? To cut energy costs in governmental buildings.
Instead of a 40 hour work week over 5 days, workers are being asked to work 10 hours a day, 4 days a week.
It is estimated that 1000-3000 state buildings will be closed on Fridays, resulting in a reduction of about 20% in energy costs.
What do you guys think? Good idea? Bad idea?
San Jose, located in the heart of Silicon Valley and home to companies like eBay, Adobe, Cisco, IBM, Hitachi, Xilinx, and Lockheed Martin, is looking to test new smart street lights. San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed hopes to turn San Jose’s street lights into power and internet access points for motorists. The smart street lights will have power jacks for electric and hybrid cars (which will require payment to make the power flow), antennas for Wi-Fi internet access, and built-in web cameras. The web cams will double as traffic and crime monitoring.
This doesn’t sound too green you say. Well, the lights are also set to use the latest LED lighting technology, which will last longer and consume less power than their current counterparts. In addition, the lights will be “intelligent” enough to turn off when it doesn’t sense any cars or people in the area. With thousands of street lights across the city, this could prove to be a real power and money saver.
The test is scheduled to begin this week. If the initial demonstration is successful, there will be a larger test this summer. It would sure be great to have these smart lights as well as “smart traffic lights” too.
Thomas Friedman’s got a great editorial in today’s NY Times that is definitely worth reading - although don’t read it if you are in a zen-like mood and don’t feel like losing your buzz, because it’s infuriating.
First, he talks about the stupidity of a gas tax repeal for the summer, (which McCain and Clinton support, but which Obama does not) which basically solves nothing, while increasing the amount of money we send to the Middle East, reducing our ability to pay for things like road repairs, bridges that don’t collapse while people are driving over them, and prevents us from investing in better sources of energy.
Speaking of what we invest in, second, he talks about how our government has completely failed us, and how we continue to under-invest in clean technologies. Germany has a 20-year solar incentive program; Japan 12 years. Ours will expire at the end of the year.
Finally, he points out the somewhat obvious fact that investing in clean technologies is a smart way to create new jobs. Duh. Even I knew that. And yet we don’t do it, and don’t invest, all the while bemoaning the lack of manufacturing jobs here.
Here’s the money quote:
Peter Schwartz of Global Business Network describes as the true American energy policy today: “Maximize demand, minimize supply and buy the rest from the people who hate us the most.
Sad but true. If you want to change this, don’t forget to get involved.
Happy Earth Day! I don’t know about where you live, but there has been a ton of Earth Day activity and press coverage in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Earth Day Network has a list of some of the larger events around the world. With all the Earth Day coverage and events, I became curious and wanted to learn more about the history of Earth Day. I’ll be the first to admit that I was very naïve about the environment and being green just a few years ago. Not too long ago, I actually thought Earth Day was a new movement started by Al Gore or someone from an environmental organization.
April 22, 2008 actually represents the 38th anniversary of Earth Day, with the first formal Earth Day held April 22, 1970. Although there were numerous events culminating to the birth of Earth Day including a huge amount of grassroots activism throughout the 1960s, the birth of Earth Day is attributed to Gaylord Nelson, a United States Senator from Wisconsin. Gaylord Nelson, an environmental activist himself, had originally called for an environmental teach-in to be held on April 22, 1970. He modeled the teach-in after the Vietnam War protests, hoping to show people there was popular support for the movement. Senator Nelson even passed a bill designating April 22nd as the national day to celebrate the Earth.
The first Earth Day saw an estimated 20 million people participating across the United States from thousands of schools and universities. 1970 was also the year President Nixon started the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and when Congress amended the Clean Air Act to include national air quality, anti-pollution, and auto emission standards. Today, Earth Day is an event organized by the nonprofit Earth Day Network and observed by nearly 200 countries and hundreds of millions of people around the world. Earth Day has now become a huge promotional event for many companies and is even a weeklong observation for many cities.
Happy Earth Day to all of you. Whether it’s driving less, consuming less, recycling, or just making your carbon footprint that much smaller, I hope everyone is doing what they can to help Earth. Everyday, I hope we reach the miraculous tipping point when the planet begins healing. We only have one planet for ourselves and our posterity, and we have to make it last.
