Save and Conserve

After years of physical neglect & recurring financial woes, it looks like Congress might be starting to comprehend that our passenger rail system is in need of serious help (read: money). While European & Asian countries have long invested billions into high-speed rail systems that typically average over 125mph, here in the US we have Amtrak's Acela running in the Northeast corridor & averaging in the low 80s. Not exactly threatening any land speed records.

Although our train system is pretty much a total national embarrassment (something the Bulgarians would be ashamed of), it's not a total loss ... at least we have plenty of opportunity to improve ;)

New legislation has recently been introduced in the House of Representatives that shows significant sign of life. This is probably the most promising bill I have seen introduced in the past 5 years.

The new bill appropriates about $1.3 billion per year (over 5 years) for Amtrak capital needs. This is the money Amtrak needs to get the system in a state of "good repair". These are the funds the Bush admin has sought to pillage on an annual basis. Locking the funds up for the next 5 years is huge.

Most promising is the emphasis in the new bill on high-speed rail. Rail travel is so much more efficient in terms of energy use that it is inevitable that rail travel will become a much more important means of getting around in future years. Finally, Congressional dingbats leaders seem to have gotten the message (with oil at $125/barrel) that it doesn't make a lot of sense to have tons of people driving from NYC to Boston when they could be riding a comfy (hopefully wifi-enabled) train that sucks down a fraction of the energy all those cars would.

I feel like electrified passenger rail is going to be one of the meta-trends in American lifestyle change in the next 25 years. This bill might be the first step ...

Posted by tom c. at 3:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Reminder! May is Bike to Work month, next week is Bike to Work week & next Friday (the 16th) is Bike to Work day.

So, if you have a bike & you're reasonably close to work, consider biking in next Friday. It's good for the environment & the body. Plus, maybe it will inspire others to consider biking in the future.

Photo by Flickr user nnnnic used under a Creative Commons license

Posted by tom c. at 9:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As Al Gore has recently stated, changing light bulbs is nice, but it doesn't really address the climate crisis/global warming/energy crisis in a meaningful way (it's far more symbolic). Much more interesting is the notion of government working to pass laws that enforce/encourage/mandate energy efficient behavior.

Which leads us to the news from Hawaii:

All new homes in Hawaii will be required to have solar water heaters installed starting in 2010 under a law approved by the Legislature.

Hawaii becomes the first state requiring the energy-saving systems in homes.

Solar water heaters typically cost home buyers about $5,000 extra on their mortgage, but island residents will save thousands of dollars over the years on their electricity bills, supporters said.

This is the sort of aggressive law-making we need right now. Kudos to the Hawaiian state legislature, which passed this bill nearly unanimously. Obviously that implies the Hawaiian people support the bill, but still it's a pioneering step that shows other states it can be done.

These are the kinds of changes that can have real significant impact to energy consumption/carbon emissions further down the road. Great news!

Posted by tom c. at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Earlier this year, I wrote about how US consumers are responding to high gas prices by moving away from light trucks & SUVs towards smaller cars. The trend continued in April:

Of equal concern to automakers, buyers defected from high-margin trucks and SUVs to cheaper and more fuel-efficient cars more rapidly than expected due to high gasoline prices.

Cars accounted for 53 percent of sales in April with light trucks near 47 percent, a nearly complete reversal of the share of the categories a year earlier, according to Autodata.

The market shift toward cars has favored Japanese automakers with more established small car offerings.

By contrast, the trend has pummeled the truck-heavy lineups of Detroit-based automakers with the average price of regular unleaded gasoline punching above $3.62 per gallon on Thursday, a record high, according to AAA.

The three Detroit-based automakers had just a 48 percent share of the world's largest vehicle market in April, down 5 percentage points from a year earlier.

Let's hear it for the oft-maligned US consumer. Common sense decisions are a possibility in this country, if given the right incentives.

These news reports make it clear to me that the problem in this country is not with the end user. The problem is with the program. Americans would eat alternative energy up if given the (sensible) opportunity. This was covered in detail in the movie Who Killed the Electric Car?, which is a stunning documentary about how environmentally-conscious Californians wanted to buy electric cars, but weren't able to do so because of corporate interests & weak government.

How do we fix or change the program is the question. I'm not really sure how that gets done sans crisis or some major problem or negative event. The corporate interests control the government & they have zero incentive to cede control. Control will have to be taken ... which implies organization & inspiration.

As this political season is showing, the people are nowhere near as empowered as they need to be to make change happen. People just don't care enough to get involved at the level required to make real changes happen.

There's a glimmer of hope out there in some of these news stories ... but the light is very faint. I still hold that it will take pain, crisis, bad shit to get people moving in the right direction.

Posted by tom c. at 4:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)