Re: Worrying about the long term (was Global Warming (NUCLEAR))

[Rick Tarara <rbtarara@SPRYNET.COM>]

Agreed, but do the numbers.  Move the average mileage up to 40 or even 50
mpg and see what percentage of the TOTAL energy use you save.  It's on the
order of 5% and now you've played your trump card.  Everything else you do
gains considerably less.  How much car pooling can you actually do.  How
many miles can you actually reduce yearly driving.  If trucks could be made
much more efficient they would have been--fuel costs money and that lowers
profits for the trucking industry.  Lighting is only a couple percent of
overall energy use so even saving 50% doesn't do all that much.  Ultimately,
whatever is done in efficiency and conservation is not likely to counter the
growth in population projected for most of the world (Europe being the
one--and only--exception.)

Rick


----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert B Zannelli" <Spinoza321@AOL.COM>
To: <PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu>
Sent: Saturday, March 31, 2001 3:53 PM
Subject: Re: Worrying about the long term (was Global Warming (NUCLEAR))


> In a message dated 3/31/01 3:17:59 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> rbtarara@SPRYNET.COM writes:
>
> << All this means that you must concentrate on how to use conservation and
>  efficiency WITHIN the framework of the local culture/economy.  If you do
>  that, then a 25% reduction in energy use is very hard to achieve.
>
>  Rick
>   >>
> Rick I don't dispute the points you make. However there is one form of
energy
> use in this country where there is a lot of room for savings. America's
love
> affair with gas guzzling vehicles has reached a new high (or is that low)
> with the increasing use of giant SUV's which make the Gas guzzlers of the
> 1970s seem like econo cars. For a time, after the great oil shortage of
circa
> 1975 , we made great strides in this country producing sensible fuel
> efficient vehicles. However in the past few years this has been offset by
the
> purchase of 5000 plus pound V8 powered behemoths by more and more people.
> These giant monsters are being used to commute to work, often with just
one
> person on board. Since it is unlikely that Americans can be persuaded to
use
> more sensible means of commuting by appealing to concern for our planet,
then
> I believe, it would be a great benefit to either enforce more stringent
fleet
> mileage averages, or through taxes, increase the price of Gasoline at the
> pump to discourage the use of these monsters for commuting.
>
> Bob Zannelli
> New York