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Energy & Environment
What energy crisis? by J. Conrad Guest Nearly 30 years ago the price of a gallon of gasoline began to inch closer to $1. The federal government dropped the national speed limit to 55, and, with the threat of gas rationing on the horizon, the baby boomer generation raced to buy more fuel efficient Yugos, Chevettes, Escorts, Hondas and Toyotas even as the government mandated that Detroit design more fuel efficient engines and urged motorists to carpool, while many states legislated right turns allowed on red lights after coming to a stop. Today, as the price of a gallon of gasoline creeps towards $2, we hear no voice of reason urging conservation. The speed limit remains, in most places, 70 (and many Americans view that as a minimum). SUVs continue to outsell subcompacts, and the only voice we hear from the consumer is either one of complaint, or one that doesn’t care—the consumer who isn’t going to let the price of gas dictate what he drives, not so long as he can afford it (after all, a gallon of gas is still less than a gallon of milk, ignorant of the fact that as long as there are cows there will be milk and uncaring of the finite supply of fossil fuel). From the current President we hear that consumer confidence is strong and that we should spend our way through this recession. Sage advice from someone who has accumulated his wealth from the oil industry. The Transportation Department reports that today each of the 107 million U.S. households averages ownership of 1.9 cars, trucks or SUVs and 1.8 drivers, which equates to 204 million vehicles. In simple terms, the average household owns more vehicles than it has licensed drivers. The reason? More families with two breadwinners driving separately to work, more teens with cars of their own, and more families purchasing high-mileage cars for daily commutes and gas-guzzling SUVs for weekends and vacations. Suburban subdivisions have replaced downtown apartment buildings in many major cities, resulting in more daily trips to buy groceries or go to the mall. According to James Corless, spokesman for the Surface Transportation Policy Project, a group that advocates balanced transportation, the average person in the United States makes four trips per day, with nearly half of those trips for shopping or running errands. Our generation, it seems, finds it easier if not more practical to complain about the price of gasoline than to do anything about it. Note the number of luxury cars, SUVs and minivans on the roads with a single passenger—the driver. How many race to be the first car to sit at the next red light to wait for it to change, only to lead foot it to the next one? During a recent trip to Boston, where on I-90 through the city the speed limit is 50, I was dismayed by the number of drivers rushing along at 65 and 70 mph. I was compelled to keep pace lest I cause an accident. What has happened to this generation that it no longer seems to care about the environment? Are we so convinced that, as individuals, we can do nothing about conserving energy? Have we become so caught up in pursuit of the American Dream that we’ve forgotten that the responsibility for being the caretakers of this dying planet falls to us and not just to future generations? Patriotism isn’t just about waving a flag, it’s about accountability and taking responsibility for our actions. It’s about making this country less dependent on foreign oil supplies, and demanding that alternative fuels be found or developed, now, not when the fossil fuel supply runs dry. The price of gas has again been inching upward in anticipation of summer, and the oil companies cite the simple law of supply and demand. So what would happen if consumers put less demand on their product? What would happen if no one took a vacation this summer, or took one closer to home than last year, or left their boat in dry dock or took it out only once a month instead of twice? What would happen if the 107 million American households combined a trip to the post office with a trip to the grocery store? What would happen if every parent told their children, once a week, "No," when asked to drive them to the movies or the video store? What would happen if the estimated 191 million American drivers kept to the posted speed limits or drove 5 mph below the limit? What would happen if each one of us saved a mere one gallon of gas each week? Do you still feel that, as individuals, we can do nothing to alter the plight our children face, and the plight of our one and only Mother Earth? About the Author(s): See under Our Contributors to find out about the Author(s) of this article. |
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