Doug Pensinger
> We are at a crossroad. Do we continue to rely on fossil fuels until they
> become so expensive that we _have_ to find alternative sources, drilling
every
> nook and cranny that might prove economically viable, or do we start now
to
> find more economical means to use the energy we produce now and make
serious
> investments in the development of alternative sources? I think the former
is
> a dead end and I don't think that screwing up the ANWR or the Big Sur
coastline
> will buy us anything. On 60 minutes last night they said that by
increasing
> auto fuel efficiency by 1 or 2% we could save the same amount of energy as
> would be produced by drilling in the ANWR. I'll bet we can do a lot
better than
> that.
>
> Doug
The last place I'd want to get Science news from would be 60 Minutes, but I
don't want to argue about the numbers. I just want to ask if you ever feel
like giving up, because I do. In no way would I think I'm an
environmentalist, I think they are kooks. But I separate my trash, I
recycle, I check my tires' pressure and keep the engine tuned. I always
watch about turning lights out and turning computers and printers off, I've
lowered my heat in the winter and haven't thought about putting the AC in
the windows yet, and so on. But for every one of me I know there are a
hundred or thousand others who don't care. You see them on the highway,
driving with tires that look like they have 20 lbs of pressure, or they are
going 80 MPH on 55 highways. I couldn't count the number of times I've come
into work in the morning and seen others with their computer monitors on
saying 'It is safe to turn off your computer'. Trash on the highways or
having four recycle bins next to each other and each one will have an empty
can, some paper, a plastic bottle, an empty toner cartridge.
I had a huge argument once, someone said that it was the governments fault
when a new highway was running at capacities that were supposed to be 30
years away. I told them to count how many cars had more then one person in
it. When I'm bike riding or sometimes driving I keep a count and I usually
get 75 to 80% with single person cars. (Although I'm guilty of that myself.
I either bike commute to work or drive by myself.)
I just wonder if it's worth it sometimes.
Kevin Tarr
Trump high, lead low
