Are We Thriving and Coming Together?

I needed some inspiration so I decided to re-watch the President's speech in Tucson, Arizona from several months ago (click on my nicely embedded video to the right if you would like to as well).  I first watched it the day after the speech was given, and I still remember tearing up at the end.   

I have copied (from here) the ending below, just as a tribute to how all of us can be better, and not just for ourselves....

Together We Thrive: Tucson and America

(all of the emboldened parts are where I get goosebumps!)

"...They believed - they believed, and I believe that we can be better. Those who died here, those who saved life here - they help me believe. We may not be able to stop all evil in the world, but I know that how we treat one another, that's entirely up to us.

"And I believe that for all our imperfections, we are full of decency and goodness, and that the forces that divide us are not as strong as those that unite us.

"That's what I believe, in part because that's what a child like Christina Taylor Green believed.

"Imagine - imagine for a moment, here was a young girl who was just becoming aware of our democracy; just beginning to understand the obligations of citizenship; just starting to glimpse the fact that some day she, too, might play a part in shaping her nation's future. 

"She had been elected to her student council. She saw public service as something exciting and hopeful. She was off to meet her congresswoman, someone she was sure was good and important and might be a role model. She saw all this through the eyes of a child, undimmed by the cynicism or vitriol that we adults all too often just take for granted.

"I want to live up to her expectations. I want our democracy to be as good as Christina imagined it. I want America to be as good as she imagined it. All of us - we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children's expectations.

"As has already been mentioned, Christina was given to us on Sept. 11, 2001, one of 50 babies born that day to be pictured in a book called 'Faces of Hope.' On either side of her photo in that book were simple wishes for a child's life. 'I hope you help those in need,' read one. 'I hope you know all the words to the National Anthem and sing it with your hand over your heart.'  'I hope you jump in rain puddles.'

"If there are rain puddles in heaven, Christina is jumping in them today. And here on this Earth - here on this Earth, we place our hands over our hearts, and we commit ourselves as Americans to forging a country that is forever worthy of her gentle, happy spirit..."  - President of the United States Barrack Obama January 12, 2011

I can't remember a moment where I've been prouder that he is my President.  And I wanted to ask: do you think America is thriving and coming together?  I feel like we have exited the time of depolarization and the country is once more characterized by its political divisions than its commonalities.  Even though it was short-lived, I hope we can get back to that time when we did not let our divisions define us.

Just some other things that motivate me...

Park Scene from Good Will Hunting

"Ocean" by John Butler Trio

Alicia Keys on CNN's Impact Your World - "I want to be known as an incredible, global citizen and a person who has made their mark in an inspiring, positive way....this is my generation--we're about to do something really big."

A 'Jeremy original':  "What happened in your past does not determine your future because expecting  future outcomes to be the same as past outcomes is naively assuming nothing has changed between then and now."  It comforts me to know this when I am struggling.  It tells me that any failure or unrealized opportunity from the past does prevent me from being able to realize my potential in future endeavors. 

I Miss My 4Runner

So I have been in Australia for about 11 months now and I have really been missing my '05 4Runner that's back home in the US.  I was thinking about looking for a new car when I get home but I have reservations about making a change.  One advantage would be getting better fuel efficiency and I got to thinking about what kind of impact that would actually have.  So, let's imagine an argument for buying 'better', fuel efficient cars. 

The Question:

If I'm shopping for a car, you tell me to buy the one that gets 30 mpg versus the one I really like but only gets 22 mpg.  Now you say: Jeremy do you want to 'do the right thing' and help the environment or be bad and hurt the environment?  Then I tell you to shove it because that 8 mpg-difference isn't going to make much difference in the big scheme of things.  

The scheme of things:

Now I'm going to do some math, so I'm sorry if you don't like math but I like using it because it's hard to rebuke.  I usually drive about 5,000 to 6,000 miles per year, about 110 miles - or 5 gallons of gas - per week.  Let's guess the average truck driver drives 10 hours per day at 60mph on highways, equaling 600 miles per day over 5 work days, totaling to 3000 miles per week.  In 2 weeks, a truck driver drives as far as I do in 1 year.  It would take me 25 years to match that of a trucker's annual driving mileage.


A truck driver, who gets worse fuel efficiency - between 3-8 mpg - than my 22mpg, expends two to five times as much fuel.  So, a trucker expends 75 to 200 gallons of diesel - aka carbon emissions - in 1 day compared to my expending 27 gallons for the same distance.  (By the way, diesel fuel used by truckers and unleaded gas used by most cars do not have the same, but rather similar carbon footprint).  So while I consume 225 to 280 gallons per year, a truck driver consumes 18,500 to 50,000 gallons for their 150,000 miles per year.  My 22mpg car is so insignificant that, at my highest projected consumption and the truckers' best fuel efficiency, it would take me 65 years to match the carbon emissions output of 1 single truck driver in 1 year.  


To top it off, that 8mpg that you wanted me to save -- 280 gal. per year (22mpg car @ 6000 miles) minus 200 gal per year (30mpg car @ 6000 miles) = 80 gal. difference -- would be equivalent to 1 day's work for 1 trucker.  And there are millions of truckers on the road every single day...


I imagine, with 970 gallons as the average fuel consumption per hour of a commercial airline flight when total airline energy consumption represents 10% of all transportation consumption, that energy efficient airplanes should be relevant part of the discussion too.  I won't go through all the same math with this one but the amount of fuel I would save each year (80 gallons between 30mpg and 22mpg car)  is less than one-tenth of the average fuel consumption of one commercial flight.  Imagine American Airlines decides tomorrow to cut just one of its weekday back-and-forth flights from Dallas to New York for one year (260ish days x 1940 gallons = 504,400 gallons).  That change alone would save more fuel than I could possibly consume in 100 lifetimes.  


Airplane fuel efficiency has improved over the last decade but the targets are still laughably unambitious.  Every time I'm walking to class and a plane flies overhead I don't feel my walk has impacted the big picture, but I still enjoy my walk of course.

My Answer:

Regardless of the individual perspective, small scale automobile transportation as a whole accounts for more than 50% of total transportation energy consumption.  So while it may not matter what I do, it matters what we do.  It's going to take an industry-wide fuel efficiency standard to make an impact for the environment and for consumers.  If consumers are given choices where the minimum fuel efficiency for every vehicle is 25mpg, then I think we'd make some headway.  Policymakers need to get ambitious.

I agree that climate change and carbon emissions are a vital interest for every human being on the planet.  I consider myself pro-environment and I'll vote for limits on carbon emissions any day.  I'm only stating my view on what kind of impact I can effect as a consumer, specifically as a user of transportation.  

As long as the fuel efficiency of airplanes and trucks continues to be pathetic all while the best comparable change I can muster is a measly few mpg's, then I'm sticking with my 20mpg Toyota 4Runner that I love dearly.  What are you coming back with now?