Let's Do This First

I'm all for the things Bru has just suggested we start moving toward in the beginning of his latest post. Thing is, there will undoubtedly be a period of transition between moving from a high entropic society that motors about, happy as, living in 4,000 sq. ft. homes while buying things from around the world brought to your corner of the earth via 12,000 miles supply chains, to that which is summed up by Bru's three main recommendations.

We have to understand and realise that each and every one of these things is part of a transition period and not the end solution to our energy/PO/global warming crisis: Ethanol (and all biofuels), carbon cap and trade schemes, CAFE standards (really, this is a huge joke: what is it.... 35mpg by 2020 or something? reality will solve this one for us long before 2020! though I'm sure neo liberal economists will chalk it up to the free market.), bus rapid transit and rail electrification (these actually continue past the transition perios) and yes, nuclear power, even with its long lead time.

Here is another action we can take during this transition period: drive sane. Due to my car breaking down, I am driving the car my dad was planning on selling. It has one of those fancy gauges that tells you how much further you can drive on your tank of gas, average speed, instant fuel economy, etc. When I started driving it I was getting an average of 17 mpg (4.2 litre V8). A month later, under my driving habits, I am getting 23.4 mpg, a 38% increase. I've achieved a better fuel economy increase that what those stupid news stories run every time gas prices spike (inflate your tires!) just by driving in a sane manner: gentle acceleration, smooth braking, staying within the speed limit, cruise control. Because I don't have a propensity to drive more because of these changed habits, I have reduced my fuel consumption by 38%. A couple of the contributing editors at The Oil Drum have raised the notion that we could be a lot more effective in conservation by focusing on more efficient uses of our current transportation system. An immediate and massive redesign of cars, for example. I fully maintain we will have to move beyond personal automobiles (around 2015), but realistically the things listed above are probably a lot easier to achieve with the population we have, both in quantity and quality.

Here is the caveat. We only have a few years to start with this transition. The longer we wait to start change, the more likely we will have to make the switch to walkable and bikable communities, electrified rail transport and rethinking how we live in terms of location and proximity. To make an immediate conversion will be rediculously expensive. It will be very difficuly and it will be met with great resistance from the general population. As our good friend Dick has said, "Our way of life is not negotiable."