... automobiles¹

This is conservative. Nakanomori [1] reports that there were 642 million automobiles world-wide as of 1994; there are certainly more now.

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... do²

In the United States of 2002, expecting the Federal government, led by Mr. George Bush, to do anything constructive in this area is an exercise in futility. The best we can hope for is to prevent them from doing much harm. It is up to individuals, enlightened corporations (of which there are a few), and state governments to take the lead in beginning to solve our environmental problems

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... enemies³

We are sending tens of millions of dollars per day to Saudi Arabia, which breeds terrorists (as we found out so tragically on 9/11), and, until very recently we were sending Saddam Hussein about $25 million dollars every day for a daily fix of one million barrels of oil! It is incredible, given all the recent attention paid to Iraq, that the American public, largely ignorant of this fact, has never heard a word about it from Mr. Bush. The very President who has designated Iraq America's most dangerous enemy has done absolutely nothing (e.g., by asking us, in the name of national security, to waste less oil) to quench the flow of vast sums of American money to that enemy.

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... car⁴

Hybrid technology is becoming available that delivers 50 mpg in a Toyota Corolla-sized package that is fast and comfortable. See Section 2.3.1 for details.

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... accidental⁵

If not for the election official in Palm Beach, who decided, in a Presidential election year, to re-design the ballot for a community largely populated by the aged, Al Gore would be President today. Confused by this ballot, tens of thousands of voters intending to vote for Al Gore instead marked their ballots for Patrick Buchanan. Analysis of past voting patterns of this district, plus numerous interviews with confused registered voters, confirmed this. Buchanan himself admitted that he received many votes intended for Gore.

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... cars⁶

Diesels are inherently 1.5 times (50%) more efficient than gasoline engines on a per-gallon-of-fuel basis, and production of a gallon of diesel fuel requires half the crude oil than does the production of a gallon of gasoline. Diesels are thus 3 times more efficient (200%) on a per-gallon-of-crude basis. Running on European low sulfur, high-cetane fuel, dirty, smelly, noisy, slow diesels are a thing of the past. European diesels deliver quiet, high performance, with extraordinary fuel efficiency and exhaust emissions comparable to the cleanest gasoline vehicles. Diesels constitute 50% of the automobiles sold in Europe, with great demand occurring in the luxury segment. Sophisticated Europeans understand that diesels are more efficient. Their understanding is aided considerably by much higher fuel costs than Americans pay, because in the US, unlike Europe, we ignore the environmental costs of driving and thus fail to tax automobile usage sufficiently, via the gasoline tax. We make up the shortfall, which is substantial, from general tax revenues. This, of course, results in artificially low gasoline prices, drastically reducing the incentive to conserve gasoline. Would Americans be as enthusiastic about SUVs if gasoline cost $5/gallon?. Europeans also know that diesels require less maintenance, are more reliable, and last longer than comparable gasoline-powered cars. For example, you can buy high-performance turbo-diesel BMWs in Europe that will cruise the German Autobahns as well as their gasoline-powered cousins, but unlike those cousins, they deliver 40 mpg at sane speeds.

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... below⁷

As the great American humorist Dave Barry would say, I am not making this up.

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... you⁸

Note that waste of resources is an extreme example of an action that doesn't pass the cost/benefit test. Waste, by definition, involves use of resources for no benefit: all cost/zero benefit. Elimination of waste in our lives is a simple way of becoming better environmental citizens without sacrifice. Since we receive no benefit from wasting resources, we lose nothing by ceasing to do so.

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... people⁹

A 767 consumes 5813 liters of jet fuel/hour while cruising at 542 mph, which is equivalent to .353 miles/gallon

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... people¹⁰

A CJ2 consumes 900 lbs of jet fuel/hour while cruising at 460 mph, which is equivalent to 2.55 miles/gallon

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... transportation¹¹

By flying, you have also contributed to the popularity of a very bad use of scarce airport resources: flights under 300 miles. Our non-existent transportation planning in the US has, until very recently, been oblivious to the truth that Europeans have known for years: high-speed trains are great for trips of 300 miles or less (they take you downtown to downtown, not to an airport outside the city, they are roomier, more comfortable, and much more energy-efficient), and they free up airport resources for the longer trips that airplanes are so good at. About 50% of the air-traffic at Boston's Logan Airport travels 300 miles or less, much of it to and from NY, and they want to build another runway at Logan to alleviate congestion, a step vehemently opposed by communities in the path of the new runway and by Boston's Mayor Menino. If we had true high-speed rail between Boston and New York, which we don't, the Boston-NY air shuttles would be out of business, as are flights between Paris and Lyons. That route is served magnificently by the French TGV train, which makes the 265 mile trip in under two hours. Without the NY shuttles coming and going every half hour, Logan wouldn't need a new runway. We don't need more runways; we need more state-of-the-art intercity trains.

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... chorus¹²

Despite it's much lower performance than state-of-the-art European and Japanese high-speed trains, Amtrak already carries more people between Boston-New York and New York-Washington, DC than all the airlines combined

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... Gunn¹³

A recent quote from Mr. Gunn on the problem with the bathroom doors on the Acela Express (which is being addressed): ``After 150 years of railroading in this country, you'd think we'd have crapper doors that work''

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... support¹⁴

The Acela Express, modern though it is, is not really high-speed, in the French or Japanese sense. The problem is the track, which Amtrak does not own, and the right-of-way, which contains too many curves. Because Amtrak doesn't own the rails, it shares them with freight traffic and, south of New Haven, with the Metro-North Commuter Rail system. The Acela Express, capable of speeds in excess of 160 mph, is frequently slowed to a crawl because of traffic conditions on the tracks. It also must slow for the curves. Though it is designed to take the curves faster, and to accelerate out of them faster than conventional trains, the net result is that the trip from Boston-NY beats a 1900 steam train by only 45 minutes or so on the same route.

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... choices¹⁵

This is true even if you drive very little. Others, such as your children, see what you drive, are influenced by it, and may not understand your ``but I only drive 1000 miles/year'' rationale for owning, say, a Hummer.

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... vehicle¹⁶

There is no such thing as an automobile that is good for the environment, not even a Toyota Prius. They all harm the environment to a greater or lesser extent. The best we can do is to minimize the harm.

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... craze¹⁷

My wife and I were fortunate to buy a '96 Toyota Camry wagon, a wonderful car that is still going strong, and which Toyota discontinued at the end of that model year.

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... Jetta¹⁸

The Jetta is available with a diesel in the US. This engine, known as the TDI, has a fine reputation for reliability, and will deliver nearly 50 mpg. It is therefore very good in terms of CO$_{2}$ emissions, and because it is a diesel, it is also very good in terms of consumption of crude oil. The problem is that the VW diesel, running on the high-sulfur, low-cetane-rating diesel fuel available in the US, produces smog emissions at a rate twice that of a Ford Explorer SUV. This car fouls the air with poisons at the rate of 2 SUVs, which is not good for those riding behind one, and could affect the owner as well, contaminating the air in one's own garage. I would avoid this or any diesel that might become available in the US, until US diesel fuel improves, permitting the manufacturers to use the exhaust-scrubbing techniques already in use in Europe.

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... clearance¹⁹

Four-wheel drive wagons typically have smaller ground clearance than an SUV. This is only an issue when the vehicle is used off-road.

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... SUV²⁰

If these are your criteria for selecting a car, you'd be better off spending $50,000 on psychiatry than, say, a Lincoln Navigator, and the rest of us would be better off as well.

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... SUVs²¹

How many of the people that you see piloting otherwise empty Ford Excursions to, say, the shopping area in La Jolla, CA (I've personally observed that the Excursion seems to be one of the vehicles of choice in La Jolla) do you think would know how to engage the four-wheel drive in their vehicles?

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... public.²²

If, despite what I have said, you decide that you must have an SUV, realize that in many cases you have the option of ordering one with front-wheel (rather than four-wheel) drive. Front-wheel drive will provide all the traction you will ever need in almost every circumstance (again, if you are among the tiny fraction of SUV buyers who can really justify four-wheel drive, then get it), and will give you better mileage. There are also smaller SUVs available now, built on car (not truck) chassis (the Toyota Highlander is an example, built on the Camry chassis). These vehicles provide better mileage than truck-based SUVs, especially if ordered with front-wheel drive. Understand, though, that you will still not get the mileage or the handling safety of a wagon, because these faux-SUVs still have poor SUV aerodynamics and a too-high center-of-gravity. A wagon would be a much more environmentally friendly, safer choice.

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... gallon²³

I wrote much of this paper while on vacation with my wife in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. We got there by flying from Boston to Halifax, where we rented a Toyota Echo. The Echo is a small economy car, significantly lighter than a Prius at 2000 lbs. It is designed to provide good fuel economy. Over about 1300 km of driving, the Echo delivered 38+ mpg, excellent, but still a far cry from a Prius. The Echo is efficient, but standard automotive technology. Despite being 40% heavier, the Prius is 31% more fuel-efficient than the Echo. This gives you an idea of the power of this marvelous new technology.

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... vapor²⁴

Many think fuel cells are the answer to our prayers. After all, they only emit water vapor. What harm can that do? Well, carbon dioxide is also an innocuous-sounding emission. After all, as has been observed by the eminent scientist and House Majority Whip Rep. Tom ``The Hammer'' DeLay, in support of President Bush's refusal to honor his campaign promise to cap CO$_{2}$ emissions: ``What can possibly be wrong with CO$_{2}$? We exhale it!''. Despite the wisdom from the congressman from Texas, the planet is reminding us that too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. Certain amounts of CO$_{2}$ are good; a lot more can be bad. Drinking 10 gallons of water in one sitting would kill you, for example. I have personal concerns that indiscriminate use of fuel-cell-powered automobiles, emitting enormous quantities of water vapor into the atmosphere, just might surprise us, as the greenhouse effect has surprised us.

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... fuel²⁵

This is a ballpark estimate. The precise relationship between speed and fuel consumption is complex and depends on many factors, such as the car you are driving and your driving style, so providing precisely how much fuel consumption will be reduced is not possible. The point is that it will drop faster than linearly, meaning that for any percentage reduction in speed, you will be rewarded with a greater percentage reduction in fuel consumed.

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... recycling²⁶

Recycling is not the panacea many think it is. Recycling materials means transporting them to wherever they are to be processed. That takes energy. Processing the materials into new raw material takes energy. Forming the raw material into new usable products takes energy. Transporting the new products to where they can be sold takes energy. This is why recycling is near the bottom of the hierarchy.

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... away.²⁷

Again, as I've tried to emphasize throughout this paper, I am not calling for all of us to begin leading spartan lives. I'm simply trying to sensitize people to the true costs of their actions, and to provide some ideas for modifying their ways to lessen the burden they impose on the planet without destroying the quality of their lives. You don't always have to be on the very left, or non-use side of this hierarchy, to be a good environmental citizen. You should just use it as a guide as you make daily decisions about resource use.

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... buy²⁸

You've just learned one of the reasons why companies offer ``Large Economy Sizes'': their packaging costs go down relative to the amount of product sold as the package gets bigger.

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... gets.²⁹

This phenomenon, cubic volume growth vs. quadratic area growth, works against large animals and people, because the body's ability to cool itself is proportional to its surface area. Because the area grows more slowly than the volume, large animals have less cooling capacity relative to their volume than do small ones. This is why large animals tend to be slow-moving.

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... garden³⁰

My wife called to me one day to show me a renegade plant in her flower garden, growing like a weed. It was a tomato plant, which had sprung up as a result of her use of composted food waste as fertilizer. The waste contained a very persistent tomato seed.

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... pinch³¹

Think of a vacation destination where you wouldn't want to arrive having left your excellent Olympus digital camera on your dresser. How about Hawaii? I did it. Several disposable (but partly recyclable) cameras at least allowed us to record our trip, albeit with significantly compromised image quality.

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... Todd³²

The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. If you've seen the show, you already understand. If you haven't, all I will tell you is that you should see it. It's brilliant, if a bit macabre.

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... razor³³

Perhaps the ease with which you can give yourself a nasty cut with a straight razor explains the greater preference for full beards in those earlier times prior to the invention of the safety razor.

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... Shack).³⁴

Interesting (to me) fact: the Toyota Prius battery pack is made from 228 1.2 volt NiMH batteries connected in series. The batteries are almost, but not quite, the same as ordinary AA batteries (they did use AAs in the Prius prototypes).

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... animals³⁵

I think it behooves all of us to have some level of understanding of what happens to the animals that end up on our plates. Veal calves are a good place to start. The geese whose livers end up in pate de fois gras are another. Both receive unbelievably cruel treatment for our dining pleasure. Once you have this knowledge, you can then make informed decisions about your eating habits according to the dictates of your own conscience.

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... chain³⁶

Another good reason for eating low on the food chain, is that the higher you go, the more concentrated the toxic substances from environmental pollution become. To me, one of peoples' craziest eating practices is eating the livers of animals. The liver is the organ in in humans and animals that is responsible for cleansing our bodies of toxic substances. It is a filter. So, if you want to eat concentrated toxins, liver is the way to go.

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... cord³⁷

It's important to follow the directions that come with the mower regarding the length and gauge (thickness) of the extension cord you use. Why? I have to get a bit technical to tell you. Extension cords present a resistance per unit length to the flow of electricity. The total resistance of the cord is proportional to its length. That resistance goes down as you increase the diameter of the cord and the reduction is proportional to the increase in the diameter squared. Why do we care about resistance in the cord? Resistance causes a voltage drop when you pass a current through it (Mr. Ohm told us this) and the result of that voltage drop is heat. Power equals voltage times current ($P = VI$). Electric motors are constant power devices; they are going to get their power one way or another. If you use a very long, skinny extension cord, there will be a big voltage drop in the cord, so the motor in your mower will see much less voltage than it should. But, because it wants a certain amount of power, it makes up for the lowered voltage by drawing a higher current (remember, $P = VI$ and P is non-negotiable - constant - so if V goes down, I has to go up). That higher current produces more heat in the motor (there is resistance in the motor's internal windings) and in the extension cord. Go much beyond what the instructions say, and you will burn up the motor.

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... modern³⁸

This is another area where the Bush Administration has been active in working against the environment and for big business. They have moved to relax the requirements for cleaning up old power plants and building new ones.

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