Everybody, click on Jay’s name to see what he’s talking about.

I’m an optimist, a very concerned optimist. I think that Americans will dazzle the world with their carbon footprint reduction and clean energy development, once we get up some momentum.

Americans are quite competitive, aren’t we? We like to win, to lead. When we get together to raise money for a good cause, we seem to do better with a goal and an idea of how well we are doing. To try to leverage that, I built a carbon calculator/carbon reduction tracker. People go to the site and note how many CFLs they’ve installed, whether or not they are recycling, whether they are washing their clothes in cold water, etc. There are 39 different measureable reductions to choose from. And the tool tells you how much CO2 you have reduced.

[This pseudo ad may be inappropriate for this thread but your post, the topic and your engaged audience caught me eye.]

I’d be able to mount my twin laser cannons in the front, too. A car that looks like that needs laser cannons.

Basically, though, none of this is ever going to take off until an electic car will do highway speeds, with a range of a couple of hundred miles per charge.

I haven’t been following the technology for a couple of years, but the problem when last I checked was that batteries just didn’t have the energy density for that, and there were on-going problems with fuel cells that were keeping them from being practical. Wonder if any of that has changed?

A really depressing site to visit is:

http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/

which talks about peak oil in great detail. The second page outlines why other energy sources won’t be enough to save us.

Gotta hope for that unforeseen technofix.

But, even to avoid that, try this one.

….Actually, I’m gonna end up with a 750cc Honda Shadow or a Virago, or maybe a V-Twin, by the end of the summer, unless I break something else between now and then.

I’m kinda resisting upgrading to a Harley Sportster, since they have, you know, that sound that drives the babes wild.

Surely, switching over to motorcycles would be the responsible thing for us all to do, if we love the planet.

Zapino Electric Motor Scooter

http://www.zapworld.com/ZAPWorld.aspx?id=4560

Also, the fact that I still drive about 5000 miles a year in a car, to visit Austin, makes a two ton difference.

The calculator seems really oversimplified, too, but I don’t know how it could be set up for people to figure out how much carbon impact there is for the food and other consumables we buy.

This being May 1, it was one year ago today that Ed started working at the Seattle office. We’ve purchased gasoline three times in the intervening 12 months, one of those times on our way back from Vancouver — making it very highly taxed Canadian petrol sold by the litre.

Ed’s company provides MetroPass(es) to its employees, and actively discourages driving to work by charging for parking. Ed is not married to a stupid person (usually), and he takes the bus to work.

I specifically chose our apartment, in part, due to the relative ease in walking to everything I need.

I say “relative” only because Seattle ain’t flat. Half a mile on a level plane is a whole lot easier than half a mile up an 8-10 degree grade.

So, very little driving. Recycling is very nearly a religion out here, as is energy efficiency. Another point in favor of our apartment was its Built Smart status from Seattle City Light.

One of the things that boggled Ed and I about living out here was the bi-monthly electric bills. I josh you not, electric bills come once every two months, and then they run between $60-75.

SCL also makes it possible to buy-in on alternate energy sources on a 25, 50 or 100 percent basis. I just bought-in for 25% of our energy usage, which will add $6 to the bimonthly bills.

Taking the carbon calculator, therefore, resulted in an almost ridiculously low number for someone who’s spent her entire adult life in the middle of the country, someone who recently needed a vehicle to accomplish anything other than taking out the trash or checking the mail.

1.85, as opposed to the national average of 7.5. “Much smaller than average.” But I don’t really feel virtuous, so much as fortunate as to be able to live here.