The Survivalists

Traveling

I studied the countryside as we drove for hours in the Senegal (West Africa) desert. I was always amazed by the solitary walkers in the center of the vastness, coming from nowhere evident, going to no evident place on the horizon. Foot travel is timeless. For me, time is money, but as travel changes as we leave a cheap-energy world, I do not know what the new expression will be. Time will change back to what it was before 1750 and the Industrial revolution.

Travel is already changing as it should have been doing for over 30 years. The rail roads remain efficient and we shall have to restore rights of way and the old lines torn up. Already buses, subway and train travel pick up to reduce personal costs, not as an energy effectiveness strategy. Buses are diesel-expensive. I saw the dangerously open train doors in China and India and now read that in the San Francisco areas removing the doors of BART trains may allow more standing room for riders. Mass transit costs, of course, are high but so is the ridership. The energy cost per person per mile has to become part of the computations. The costs to the energy supply, the future, has to be evaluated.. The entire economy of the widespread nation depends on exchange of goods. It is essential that public and private means be encouraged to rebuild or build a modern energy-efficient system for the nation before all energy is used, reduce highway and and trucking costs, and restore a diverse system (unlike the one based on cheap fossil energy) to meet the food, health, emergency, and economic needs of a rapidly-changing society. The American Public Transportation Association estimates a mere $45 billion is need annually for public transportation facilities. That makes no sense. That will make sense within the context of a reasonable national energy-based plan, i.e., one that assures the facilities so developed remain in effective use by everyone, not just the current 20%.

I think there is no chance that the above planning and re-allocation of funds will be done. I remain sad for the people at the ends of the degrading transportation lines of all types (including the energy-hog aircraft and fast cars). I remain sad for the workers in the auto and truck plants. There will be room for The Survivalists among the extra 50 million people amongst us in the next 20 years in which we have to rebuild a national comprehensive transportation system.

"Work at home, use the Internet." has been a good mantra. The internet only carries ideas, not potatoes, injured people, the recently dead, new babies, milk, the last gallons of gasoline, and Ebay exchanges.

Travel Efficiency

Of course we are worrying about the price of gas and how to deduce expenditures for it. This worry can easily take all of our attention (as when watching a magician while he makes the hidden substitution for a good trick). The whole show is the topic, not the trick. The price of gasoline does not deal with the greater topic of whether there will be gas at any price. It does not deal with the carbon dioxide from the used gasoline that is added to a growing sickness in global climate. It does not deal with the layoffs that occur in highway, trucking, and automotive industries when their fuel is gone or too expensive for profits.

Gas is a good topic for it is at the base of the US energy problem. Transportation in the US uses 2/3 of the oil consumed and and about 2/3 of the entire energy use of the US is from fossil energy (oil, coal, gas).

We're driving ourselves to death. We have to husband our gasoline resource. Soon, better yesterday, we should be starting to ration gasoline so that the oil supplies of the world can be wisely used. Many of the oils are essential for critical uses, not to be burned up. There has to be "...thought for the morrow." There are key machine lubricants, key manufactured products, key medicines, essential fertilizer needing the last of the oil and gas ... these priceless residues must not be burned in "your ugly truck!"

We have to get serious now on a long and tiresome cultural change, for this is the way it is going to be. There will be no quick fixes, no change suggesting that all of the following rules were to be in place for only a few years. They will be in place for Survivalists, now, forever.

Check out drivemasterchallenge.org and urban transportation ideas.

See  Money Saving Tips of the Drive Smarter Challenge (of the Alliance to Save Energy, 1850 M Street NW, Suite 600 Washington, DC 20036, 202-857-0666) . We have a good list and active work on as many of the following as possible will pay off:

1. Curb road rage
2. Stop rapid starts
3. Stop heavy braking; drive as if protecting your brakes (that are energy costly to manufacture)
4. Coast to stoplights
5. Drive more slowly (at the speed limit or safely below it)
6. Drive sensibly; lightly accelerate down hill, glide to the crest; drive as without having brakes; listen to the engine to reduce its "hard work"
7. Cut miles (combining trips, walking, biking, or taking public transportation)
8. Use GPS to assist in finding shortest routes to a destination and reduce "being lost"
9. Drive your vehicle that gets the best gas mileage
10. Turn down or do not use the air conditioner
11. Avoid carrying items on your vehicle‘s roof (streamline)
12. Reduce extra weight in cars (dump the trunk)
13. Observe speed laws
14. Avoid idling
15. Combine errands/trips
16. Reduce trips
17. Defer vacations and select close destinations
18. Prepare for reduced driving (e.g., stock up on non perishable goods)
19. Store RVs at public or central private areas (avoid local use)
20. Work from home
21. Move close to your work place
22. Move close to public transit
23. Plan, thus get more done on each trip
24. Use bikes
25. Walk to many destinations; form neighborhood walking groups
26. Use car pooling
27. Tune up engine
28. Use regular gasoline
29. Select the right grade oil
30. Inflate tires properly (tire limit)
31. Check and replace air filters regularly
32. Use overdrive gear if available
33. Use cruise control
34. Use other transportation options (public transportation, carpooling, biking, walking, or ridesharing)
35. Telecommute or stagger work hours (avoid sitting in traffic and wasting gas, especially during peak rush hours)
36. Buy or rent an efficient new or replacement vehicle
37. Request an efficient rental vehicle
38. Use hybrid (high mpg) vehicles
39. Be sure you know the destination of a sure supply of gasoline for the next fill up.

I'll gladly add more suggestions to the list and will welcome your suggestions. While driving energy efficiently, think about the larger energy issues for The Survivalists.