Chicken Little

Even with almost all of the skeptics now agreeing that global warming or climate change is real and is affected (at least to some extent) by human activity, there still exists a powerful minority of dissenters. I'm ashamed to read the comments (BBC News) of Daimler-Chrysler's chief economist, who has attacked "the quasi-hysterical Europeans" and their "chicken little attitute" towards global warming. He believes, and obviously will try to pursuade DCX, that little should be spent on greener efforts.

My view? I don't know and I don't really care if human activity is affecting the natural cycle of warming and cooling. We do KNOW that humans, and especially Americans, emit way more than we need to. So WHY NOT make changes that we KNOW will reduce our footprint? I'm not talking about going broke trying; I'm talking about making sensible investments that are proven to be sustainable (i.e. let you keep making money in the long run).

The next question: why are Europeans' and Americans' attitudes different? My question is: on what issues are their attitutes the same? Not many I think.

Challenge - Truckless

Today is my last day with Pinky, Barbie Truck, Pink Panther; my 1984 "raspberry" Chevy S-10, 4-cylinder, bare bones, manual, no tape or CD, regular cab, short box, truck. We've decided to attempt to get by with 1 vehicle for a few months and see how it goes.

Honestly, it's more about economics that ecologics right now, and the main reason we can pull it off is that my wife will be able to simply walk next door for work starting Monday. Nevertheless, a reduction of dependence on personal vehicles is one of the holy grails of treehugging. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Trucks and Treehugging don't go hand in hand very well - or do they? This idea has really been bothering me for quite a while. The organic or natural lifestyle encourages composting, mulching, gardening, reusing spent materials, fixing things instead of throwing them away, etc. My little pickemup is just perfect for all of that. Last year I made many trips to the municipal compost site for the free biosolids (yep: crap), composted mulch, and lime. I made many trips to the lumber store to build a play set (used composite decking with recycled plastic), and made bunches of trips to nurseries for plants and topsoil. How will I do that with 1 family sedan between us?

You might say, "Buy a hybrid or electric." OK, I say, find me a truck. Other than a few used prototypes or fleet pickups one can find laying around (usually they need new battery packs $$$), the only pickup I know of is the GM Full-size made right here in Fort Wayne. The problem? Well, the cost ($30,000 base) is the first problem. The second problem is the mileage is only improved by 2 mpg city driving. So we're talking peanuts. I could go with an E85 - equipped Silverado for around $20,000. Then the problem becomes making sure I always have enough gas to make it to the few (but growing) stations that carry it.

So making trucks more efficient, hence environmentally friendly, is one of the big challenges I see in making treehugging more practical.

New Mileage Label

The EPA announced today that they have ...dun duh dun... issued a new label for fuel economy display in 2008 model year vehicles. The one on the left is the old one, with the new one on the right. As far as I can tell, they contain almost exactly the same amount of information. I'd bet it took a couple thousand man-hours to come up with this new label. The EPA is an incredibly bureaucratic monstrosity full of inefficiencies and waste - just not the types they regulate - unfortunately. I digress.

I have owned some fuel inefficient vehicles - the most of which was my beloved 1986 K5 Blazer with a rebuilt 350, separate exhaust, and no catalytic converters (bought it that way). I think I got 12 mpg on a good day. When someone buys a vehicle like that, of course they don't care what the mileage is. I didn't care when I was in college and gas was $0.99. I just needed something to go 4-wheelin' and to hold both kayaks and my mountain bike on top. I don't want to know what my mileage was with all that up there!

Of course now I care, and our two vehicles get pretty darn good mileage. If you're shopping, I encourage you to consider mileage. A good place to start might be EPA's Green Vehicle Guide, or just click this post title.

Criticism aside, the EPA claims that it's new mileage analysis methods are more accurate starting with the 2008 models (concurrent with new sticker). I hope that's true. Our dependence on oil, and the painful drain on our wallets, needs to decrease.