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The Autobahn’s Future and One-Liter Class Racing
Gifford Pinchot III, World Changing
An Open Letter to German Chancellor, Angela Merkel
Recently the Stavros Dimas, the environmental commissioner of the European Union, proposed an overall European Union speed limit that would include the German autobahn. Some fear this would violate a basic German right or block a necessary safety valve for the German psyche. On the other hand, it is unseemly for a rich nation to be spewing CO2 at such a rate.
At first it seems that banning this activity in the name of global warming and social justice is the decent thing to do. But this may not be the wisest solution if the goal is to reduce global warming. Implementing all the changes needed to avoid climate catastrophe will require broad support, including the support of the rich and powerful who love to drive fast cars. Taking away their fun without replacing it with something just as good or better won’t win their support for the necessary climate policies.
… Let me propose an alternative autobahn speed limit plan. Rather than a speed limit of say 130km/hr (around 81 mph), imagine a speed limit, which is the faster of
a) 130 km or
b) The fastest your car can go while burning 8 liters per 100 km (around 35 miles to the gallon).
(23 June 2008)
Summer is here, leave your car at home
Ricardo Parker, Seattle Post-Intelligencer (reader blog)
…. I am a Peak Oil believer (Hubbert follower), so I felt the need to prepare myself for living locally and whatnot. Since I like Seattle much more than I like Bellevue, I thought it was time for me to move to Seattle, and that should allow me to bike to most places since now I do not have to cross the 520 or I-90 bridges to get to my main destinations.
… I am not a bicyclist, and have discovered a few things since I started riding a bicycle:
1) Riding a bicycle can be a lot of fun. I do not like sharing the road with cars, but I’ve discovered that there are many bike trails I did not know about. For example, many people ask me “isn’t it illegal to cross the West Seattle bridge by bicycle?”. Well, yes it is. However, there’s a nice trail under the bridge that is safe and beautiful. Every time I ride I see almost no one on the trail and sidewalks, though occasionally I spot a few bikers that are either commuting or biking for leisure.
2) Riding a bike makes it much easier to park in the downtown area. I do not have to spend $10 or more on parking, or spend time and gasoline looking for a free parking spot somewhere that is unlikely to have one. This is a huge benefit for me, personally.
3) Riding a bike is great exercise. I do not feel the need to go to the gym as much as I used to. Actually, I don’t feel the need to go to the gym at all.
4) While I’ve had to do no maintenance on my bikes (I just bought a second one), I can assure you that the maintenance on bicycles is extremely inexpensive when compared to the cost of maintenance for cars or motorcycles.
(20 June 2008)
Reader blogs seem like an effective way to explain topics like peak oil and its implications. Related from Portland Oregonian: More Oregonians head to work on two fewer wheels.
Eulogy for the Winnebago
Garrison Keillor, Chicago Tribune
Eighty-six percent of the American people believe the price of gasoline will climb to five bucks a gallon this year, a big shift in public opinion from a year ago when most people felt that oil prices were spiking high and would soon return to normal-which is 35 cents a gallon, same as a pack of smokes-and we’d be able to head west in our Winnebagos for a nice summer vacation.
This does not appear to be in the cards and Winnebago stock has fallen about 50 percent in the past year. If you are selling a big box on a truck chassis for as much as a quarter-million dollars when gas is at $4 and rising, you are aiming at a rather select clientele indeed, folks who might rather buy a beach house in Costa Rica than go cruising the Interstate.
Nonetheless it’s sad to see the motor home fade into the sunset. I used to despise them when I was a canoeist, of course.
… The fantasy of comfortable vagabondage lies deep within each one of us, though, and once, 30 years ago, driving a GMC motor home around western Minnesota, I fell under the spell.
(18 June 2008)
