The problem with our fuel consumption is not so much the vehicles that we have, but the way we must use them. Yes, there may be more automobiles a the driveway than people that live in the house, but if they are not being used, they are not burning fuel! I am not sure why this keeps being a topic to people complaining about reckless consumption. I know quite a few people that have kept their large bus-sized SUV for trips to the hardware store, or when they need to carry the entire neighborhood of kids, but for the average commute, they went out and bought a little Corolla, Civic or some other thrifty car...It's called the right tool for the job!
In order to seriously cut our consumption on fuel however, there will need to be drastic changes to the way we plan and zone our cities, and even re-vamping of older neighborhoods too. The problem with almost all American cities is that they are "car bound" The automobile is the ONLY way to travel to destinations, like schools, grocery stores, and to commute to jobs. Simply no or very poor mass transit systems exist, and commercial districts are located way too far away from residental districts to walk or ride a bike. Prior to automobiles arriving on the scene, there were commercial districts right in the neighborhoods with peoples' homes.
For some reason, people think it's their "god given right" to live on one side of town, and work on the opposite side. Well, I have noticed this mentality is finally starting to fade, as city neighborhoods have benefitted from the fuel prices. I have seen slummy neighborhoods in DC "wake up" and become vibrant, as people just simply don't want to deal with the 1 hour commutes, and spending hundreds of dollars a month to drive to work. The problem is that there are only but so many inner city neighborhoods that can be revitalized.
lastly, most of the alternative energy technologies that have been coming into use over the past few decades are there to produce electricity. We have plenty of that, and we have plenty of fuel to make it (coal, which is in plenty here in the USA) The biggest problem is that even if you were to put solar panels and wind turbines on every single house to the point that all our electricity needs are met, gasoline will still cost $3.50 or more a gallon simply because oil only meets a mere 6% of our electricity needs. The only way to take care of this is to build electric cars. For some reason, people shy away from electric cars because of their range of only around 100 miles or so, despite the fact they only travel maybe 30-50 miles per trip!
In order to seriously cut our consumption on fuel however, there will need to be drastic changes to the way we plan and zone our cities, and even re-vamping of older neighborhoods too. The problem with almost all American cities is that they are "car bound" The automobile is the ONLY way to travel to destinations, like schools, grocery stores, and to commute to jobs. Simply no or very poor mass transit systems exist, and commercial districts are located way too far away from residental districts to walk or ride a bike. Prior to automobiles arriving on the scene, there were commercial districts right in the neighborhoods with peoples' homes.
For some reason, people think it's their "god given right" to live on one side of town, and work on the opposite side. Well, I have noticed this mentality is finally starting to fade, as city neighborhoods have benefitted from the fuel prices. I have seen slummy neighborhoods in DC "wake up" and become vibrant, as people just simply don't want to deal with the 1 hour commutes, and spending hundreds of dollars a month to drive to work. The problem is that there are only but so many inner city neighborhoods that can be revitalized.
lastly, most of the alternative energy technologies that have been coming into use over the past few decades are there to produce electricity. We have plenty of that, and we have plenty of fuel to make it (coal, which is in plenty here in the USA) The biggest problem is that even if you were to put solar panels and wind turbines on every single house to the point that all our electricity needs are met, gasoline will still cost $3.50 or more a gallon simply because oil only meets a mere 6% of our electricity needs. The only way to take care of this is to build electric cars. For some reason, people shy away from electric cars because of their range of only around 100 miles or so, despite the fact they only travel maybe 30-50 miles per trip!
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