We have just returned from a trip to Kansas where we had a
wonderful time, with a fair amount of driving around. The entire trip and the prospect of the trip
have found me engaging in occasional peregrinations on energy use, vacations,
and the world in general that are not really directly related to the trip, but
more a pastiche of random bits that have been all stuck together in a kind of
“current state of the world vs. my life” montage.
As this blog was intended to be a
journal of sorts, I have decided to indulge these random bits and see if
anything interesting comes out of them, although I am not really seeking or
expecting answers or insights.
travel. Am I going to stop traveling
because it requires excessive energy use? No. There are certain aspects of
being an American, and being affluent enough to afford travel that I relish and
am unwilling to give up. But still I
think about it, perhaps more than I should. The issue has come up several times as I have booked a few trips over the
next few months.
Kansas: approximately 1400 miles
Tennessee: approximately 770 miles
Arizona/California: cross-country.
We decided to drive to Tennessee, mostly because we have time
available over the Christmas Holiday and G doesn’t feel like flying. G would remind me that the cost of two
airline tickets is only a few hours of work and is not cheaper in terms of pure
personal economics. But the office will be closed during the period in question
and therefore time is available. It is
not a bad drive. I think that for the
two of us driving is a more efficient use of fossil fuel derived energy even
though it takes longer. A train might be
better, but I am not sure of train service. I could look into it but won’t bother. As I said, I am not seeking answers here. I know the information about
schedules and energy use are available and I know how to find them but that
knowledge really won’t change the outcome. We will take the trip, we will enjoy the drive because we enjoy driving
trips, and sometimes we will fly to Tennessee because there are always others
factors involved in planning trips and we are lucky enough that the children can
live far away and we can still visit them.
rides of about 1 to 1 ½ hours each on relatively small jets. These are not efficient. It would be better if we could fly directly
to Tennessee
on one flight, and this is indeed
possible if we drive down to Newark. There are two direct flights a day. The approximately 2 to 2 ½ hour drive to the airport (each way 5 hours
total in heavy traffic) may or may not use up the difference in fossil fuel
spent per person for the trip. But even
if the actual flight time is shorter, the total travel time becomes longer
simply because of the longer drive to the airport. The added trouble caused by the fact that the
direct flights are very inconvenient if one is driving to the airport does not
help. The morning flight is at 6 AM,
which would make for a VERY long day, or an overnight in Newark, which just adds to
the time and expense of the trip.
will obviously fly cross-country. This
trip may even be efficient in our normal two-leg itinerary, requiring a stop in Chicago. This time however, we are flying directly
from NYC to Arizona with a return to NYC
directly from California. This of course means that we must get to the NYC airport, a 2 hour trip
by car. The difference in fares is
significant. In winter, the difference
between a direct flight and one-stop is also significant as it reduces the
chances for weather delays and layovers.
from Tucson to Palm Desert to San
Diego. This
makes far more sense than flying out on two or three separate occasions and I
suppose this is the only argument I can use to justify the energy use. But we enjoy driving, and I thought of this
in
Kansasas
well, as we drove along, looking at the rolling hills, stopping in various
little towns. Perhaps it is an American
thing, this piling in a car and driving, but I love seeing the countryside this
way. I grew up in Texas after all. The other fact is that much of this country
is spread out over great distances and most people will never really be able to
live in a way where they can walk from store to home to work. I am not sure this is even desirable.
conveniences (all of which use power) and the ability to talk, move, or go
anywhere in the world with the problems of providing enough energy for everyone
to be able to share in this kind of bounty? It is a difficult question. I
think we should all be more aware of our energy use and where our energy comes
from, as well as its true cost. Cheaper gasoline is not an answer but raising the price won’t solve the
problem either. Too many people need to drive. Too much of this country was planned on the idea of cheap gasoline. It will take a long time to change, if that
change is even possible. I will still
take my driving trip even if gasoline were $5 a gallon. I am fortunate to be able to do that. I would probably change my daily routines,
coordinate trips to use less gasoline, change the priorities in our daily
life. I honestly don’t feel that I have
a right to cheap gas or cheap airfares for that matter but I will take advantage
of them if I can. There is much to do and much awareness-raising
still to be done. But we really can’t go
back, and we must also face the fact that much of the world wants to be us and
have what we have. We have no ability or
right to deny them that. The only
solution is to find a better way, and perhaps all take a little more
responsibility and pay a little more of our fair share.