<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6957128#post6957128 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cyclebrkr
We all need to ask ourselves what we are doing to help lessen our impact on the environment. I'm trying to do my part in going to full solar power in my house. I commute every day, rain or shine on my motorcycle ( which has a catalytic converter and a OBD ), so the bike gets over 50 MPG and pollutes less then a Hybrid.
There is so much we can do, but it seems not a lot of people want to take that first step. While we all procrastinate, the Earth gets worse and worse.
I'm not trying to project a " holier than thou" attitude, and i know a lot of people here on RC do a lot, i just wish more people would wake up and see what's really going on.
i'm the same way. i no longer drive. i leave my car in san jose while living in sf. i take mostly muni or bart. and on the weekends when i am home, i go home to RC51 waiting for me in the garage. but the problem's deep than this...
american society is dependent on our automobile and the nostalgic feelings that goes with owning the biggest and baddest trucks/suv/sports car out there, or even the beautiful classics from the 60's. in a sense, it's not the people that should be blamed even though we as a nation, are the gross consumer of fossil fuel worldwide. this is due to the fact that government never sanctioned any significant improvements in our public transportation system.
we live in a society that is constantly rushing, constantly late, and with a deadline to meet day in day out. how would we be able to meet these timed race to school, work, and other responsibilities using public transportation? i don't mean to start a "conspiracy theory," but if public transportation is to be highly efficient and people would drive less; who do you think will lose profit to the drop in gas sales?
we've gone too long depending on our automobiles and now it seems to me that our cars are our addictions and it's not going to be easy shaping the whole nation up to be using public transportation as a viable means to get around. there will definitely be some withdrawal symptoms.
there are definitely things that are changing for the better with the environment in mind. "greener" chemistry...using hydrogen peroxide as a oxidizer instead of flouro-carbons. nuclear power plants, i believe these if closely regulated in the aspect of waste storage in salt reservoir would prove to be more highly efficient and better for the environmentthan that of burning fossil fuel or coal.
just my thoughts on a nation misguided by the unknowing tyrant, so don't knock me what i've said. THIS IS ALL IN MY OWN OPINION. have a nice day
btw, don't you guys love the bumper sticker that says, "save the environment, kill yourself."