Article Contributed on: 7/9/2008 8:59:11 PM
Last Friday I was listening to
Jon Caldera on KOA. He was filling in on Mike Rosen's show.
The economy and the gas situation etc were among the topics being discussed.
Having just figured out how to save a 1/4 tank of gas a week through better driving habits it was interesting to hear other opinions especially as we were driving down the highway while listening.
The idea of a 55 mph speed limit on highways was brought up, an idea tried during the
Arab oil embargo in the 70's.
I don't think that's something we need to consider doing now, but where I disagree with Mr. Caldera was his point that by doing so we'd only save 2% of our national fuel consumption. Like it wasn't worth the effort.
This is where we're going wrong trying to solve the problem. 2% is just that. 2%. But if we can pick up 1% in another area, or a couple of more percentage points in other energy savings, it all adds up. One energy saving idea I'm considering is turning off the TV everytime a political commercial comes on, or that silly ad with Guv "Let's Make a Deal" Ritter telling us to turn the lights out before we leave the house.
We're hung up on saving the big number. But lot's of little numbers add up to a big number. And are more easily and quickly accomplished. We can do it without help from the government, which we're not going to get anyways.
I learned how to save 1/4 gas of tank a week. That's over 230 gallons of fuel a year. When compared to the hundreds of millions of gallons of fuel we consume each year, it isn't even a blip on the radar screen. Or a pimple on a hog's rear-end as my dad used to say.
But if a whole bunch of us could save 1/4 tank of gas a year, then you have something.
2% is a great start. And it's something we can do all by ourselves. Because we are the solution.
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