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Love Miles
Sharon Astyk, Casaubon’s Book
I think there are some significant things to argue with in George Monbiot’s _Heat_ (excerpts here) but one of them is not his assessment of the airline industry. He does what I think is a thorough and careful analysis of the possibilities of cleaning up the airline industry, and concludes that there is no way to do it.
…A just carbon allotment, that allowed everyone on earth a fair share of the carbon we can emit, would mean that one flight across the US or one transatlantic flight would cost one’s entire carbon allotment for a year – and by one flight, I mean *one way* – you can’t come back. After taking that flight you would be entitled to no electric lights, heat, food or shelter. We might conceivably plan for an every decade or so trip if we were very careful. But the carbon allotment is not generous, and it would be stretch.
…Now this means two things. First of all, it means that we have to give up business travel – period. Video or internet conferences only. There is no excuse for flying around the world to do things that could be done over the internet – and yes, it will be harder to do them by internet, but if the choice is having all the people of Bangladesh drown, or creating an annual Hurricane Katrina, tough patooties. Or you can travel by train (occasionally, if your train is powered by electricity with sequestered carbon – and most of them aren’t) and expect your trips to take longer. I’ll be doing this – I’m presently turning down all opportunities to speak that involve a plane.
Recreational travel is also off the table – no more trips to lie in the sun, no more backpacking around the world unless you are prepared to get there by sailing ship or train or on foot, or perhaps to live more or less nomadically, allotting all of your carbon share to travel and owning and using only what you can carry on your back. Most of us have seen all of the world we are going to see. This is an enormous pity and source of grief for me, and it comes with some real consequences – knowing about the rest of the world makes it more real to us.
…What will be even harder is what Monbiot calls “love miles” – the issue of how do we deal with far flung people we care about. How do we deal with the fact that our families are seperated, and if we live like this, we may never see each other again? How do we live with the idea that grandchildren might not know grandparents, and parents might lose adult children not just for months, but for decades? How do we deal with aging families, or ill members, weddings, funerals, and other seeming necessities.
The answer to that is that we do a lot of hard thinking and talking to one another. We won’t enjoy it – but we have no choice.
(8 Feb 2007)
Significant cut in gasoline use is decades away: automakers
Mira Oberman, AFP
It will be decades before the world will see a significant cut in global automotive gasoline consumption, automakers and analysts said.
While there have been major improvements in fuel economy and reduced emissions through the development of technologies such as hybrids and clean diesel, consumers are not adopting them quickly enough to make a serious dent.
Gasoline electric hybrids — which can improve fuel economy by anywhere from 20 percent to 60 percent — currently make up less than one percent of global sales.
(11 Feb 2007)
The auto industry’s point of view – take with a grain of salt. -BA
In Congress, a shift over fuel economy
Lawmakers who have opposed stricter emissions standards find themselves pressured to combat climate change.
Richard Simon, LA Times
For decades, Sen. Ted Stevens has battled environmentalists, but the Alaska Republican now finds himself in an unusual spot: pushing tougher fuel-economy standards for cars.
Amid heightened concerns over global warming and U.S. dependence on foreign oil, Stevens is one of a number of lawmakers shifting gears in the debate over whether Congress should mandate stricter miles-per-gallon rules.
“I’m trying to protect my state,” said Stevens, who recently called climate change “more apparent in Alaska than anywhere else.”
The 83-year-old senator’s change of heart illustrates how the landscape has shifted in Congress, and could signal a turning point in the long campaign by environmentalists – successfully fended off by Detroit – to toughen fuel-economy standards.
“There is clear bipartisan agreement, for the first time in 30 years, that Congress is going to have to act to increase fuel economy standards,” said Philip E. Clapp, president of the National Environmental Trust.
Cars and light trucks – including SUVs, pickups and vans – account for about one-fifth of U.S. carbon dioxide production. The better the fuel economy, the lower the emissions of carbon dioxide, blamed for contributing to global warming.
(12 Feb 2007)
Swiss Greens attack four-wheel drives
SwissInfo
Switzerland’s Young Greens have announced they will collect signatures to force a nationwide vote on the use of four-wheel drives and other gas-guzzlers.
They say that these cars and some motorbikes emit too much pollution, in particular carbon dioxide and health-threatening fine particles, and should be taken off the road.
The aim is to put pressure on car and motorbike constructors. Green politician Sylvia Leuenberger said in Bern on Monday that the initiative wanted to fight global warming and that it was vital to act now.
(1X Feb 2007)
Hat tip to reader LD.
Gas prices are going up again
At California pumps, cost is 40 cents more than nationwide
David R. Baker, SF Chronicle
After an all-too-brief break, gasoline prices are climbing again, driven higher by rising oil costs and falling output from California refineries.
The state’s drivers now pay $2.60 on average for a gallon of regular, up 8 cents from the start of the month. The national average rose 7 cents in the same period to hit $2.20, according to the AAA of Northern California auto club.
…Analysts blame the nationwide increase on the weather, the OPEC oil cartel and the White House, among other things. In California, a seasonal switch in fuel blends and a related rise in refinery profit margins have contributed to higher prices at the pump.
Much of the increase can be traced to winter’s belated, brutal arrival in the eastern United States. The cold weather drove up demand for heating oil. That, in turn, pushed up the price of crude oil and everything made with it, including gasoline.
(9 Feb 2007)
