Tag Archives: gas_prices

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TerraPass and a mission to reduce my emissions

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(Writing that title suddenly reminded me I have to get our yearly emissions test done)

I just bought a TerraPass.


I wanted to wait till the end of this year to calculate how much gas we used and calculate how much CO2 we’ve emitted.
Our nice little Honda gave us an average of 43mpg over 9,600 miles this year.
That calculates to:

Fuel use:
223 gallons per year

Emissions:
4,363 lbs CO2 per year

A TerraPass is basically a donation to fund clean energy initiatives in the amount that offsets the amount of emissions our car produced.

From TerraPass:

How does TerraPass work?

A Road TerraPass is a decal you place on your car showing that you have sponsored a clean energy project that balances out the environmental impact of your driving.

TerraPass funds clean energy from sources like wind farms, methane capture facilities, and more.

By replacing energy from fossil fuels with clean energy, TerraPass reduces carbon dioxide emissions. These reductions balance the emissions from your car.

TerraPass is audited by the non-profit Center for Resource Solutions to verify the impact of our clean energy investments.

Now, getting a TerraPass doesn’t mean I can just drive around where ever we want to. Mindy and I discussed the goal of reducing the amount of miles we drive over the course of the year as well.
It’s surprising that we drove 9600 miles this year, which averages to nearly 26 miles a day. The large amount of those miles come from trips home to visit family, but it ends up adding up. I’d love to reduce our driving by 20%, but that might end up being too ambitious. That would be 7680 miles or 640 miles a month. We’ll see what happens.

For those in big cities I’d strongly recommend looking into Car Sharing Programs.

P.S. I’m not sharing all this with you cause I’m “into it” or cause “it’s my thing.” I’m sharing it because I’ve recognized that my lifestyle is unsustainable and is thus not being a faithful steward of God’s green earth. I just want to share with you how I’m trying to do that.

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My response concerning high gas prices

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This was my response to my friend Gustave’s letter about high gas prices:

Goose,
my dear and wonderful friend. Let me start by saying I am quite naive to the large ramifications you’ve talked about here. I completely agree with you on everything you shared here.

Just so we get some clarifications on all this here is the basic jist of what happened:
I wrote off-handedly once about enjoying the fact that High gas prices has created a much greater interest and demand for fuel efficient cars, more people out biking to work, and more efforts in mass transit. In other words, I said I see a lot of benefits in the gas prices being high. I also feel like high gas prices reflect the actual cost of the use of that gas (as in damage to the environment, etc). I didn’t in any way imply that I like high gas prices, I like big powerful countries getting rich, I don’t care about the effects on the poor.

Again, I completely agree with everything that you said about the negative effects of high gas prices. I realize it hurts the poor and I think that sucks too. I also feel like really low gas prices aren’t going to help solve many problems either, they seem to create a slew of other problems. By the way, weren’t we in Micro-Econ together? Lower gas prices just means more people buying it, which means those companies and countries are still making a lot. I say we take out the CEO’s and others and we could offer some dirt cheap gas that way.

Seriously though, what are some solutions and problems solving techniques? Let’s commission city council to get public transit started in our area. How do we organize car pooling groups in the poor areas we live in? Could the government ration gas some those dimwits with their Hummers can’t drive them more then two blocks, but the neighbor can make it to and from work? How about promoting scooters more in poorer neighborhoods, those should solve the problem big time. This is the way I think; I like the big picture but I’m all about the practical.
I’ve filled up more then my fair share of guys gas cans and tanks in the past couple months (sure hope they were actually for their car).
Could churches offer free fill ups, gas cards, etc. in the neighborhoods they are a part of? Shouldn’t we be preaching all the stuff you shared from the pulpit?
Mostly what I’m saying is I hear you loud and clear, now what are we going to do about it?!

Let’s get a move on!

ariah.

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Biking as a form of capitalist rebellion

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I bike to work. I have for most of this year and to a large degree I’ve biked as many places as I could since I was in high school.* The two primary reasons I have choosen to bike are financial and physical.
I don’t like cars. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy driving, especially my stick shift, but I could do without. Cars cost you money no matter how much you drive them (licenses and tags, insurance and oil changes) and then they cost you money when you do drive them (gas and maintenance). I’ve had some bad experiences with cars (three of which I put about $400 into to fix and they promptly broke less then a week later). When I average repairs and everything out (except gas) it has cost Mindy and I about $1000 a year to have a car. It has cost me much less then $100 a year to have my bike (far less if I hadn’t had two stolen). Every day I bike to work I save money, and then environment and more.
I don’t like ‘working out.’ It’s not that I hate fitness clubs, I just find it silly that we’ve advanced our technology so much that we don’t get enough exercise in our daily routine. Now we schedule in a time to drive to the gym, burn some calories, drive home and eat more then we need. I work up a decent sweat every time I bike to work, and I really like that because I have to go to work, and now I’m getting some exercise while I do it.

That was more then I thought I would say about my own personal motivations for biking, but it brings me to my final point. I’ve said this before: I’m glad gas prices are going up. I really don’t like the idea that oil companies are probably the ones benefiting, or that violence and the threat of violence has contributed to the increased prices. Yet, in our society, where we are ignorant of our impact on the environment, and we are so focused on what is convenient for me, we really don’t choose to change unless it is hurting our pocket book.
I’ve biked around town at all hours of the day and I see more and more people who are biking to and from work then I have ever seen before. The cool thing is these aren’t your hip, “look-at-me-I-bike-to-work” type, these are folks who pulled the two wheeler out of the garage, dusted it off and said, I’m not going to let capitalism have the last say. Keep biking.

*There has been periods of time where “could” does not include any ride in which I would get sweaty, I’d have to wear a helmet, or I would possibly be seen by someone I know. Those periods occured mostly in high school, but still occur on occassion.