I just have to get this off my chest today. We are being held hostage by our Congress, and certain environmentalists.

Consider exhibit A.






EXHIBIT A






These two vehicles each get about the same mpg. The silver one gets about 22 mpg combined city and highway. It seats two adults in front, and two young children in back. The blue van gets more - it gets about 23-24 mpg around town, about the same on the highway. It can carry 10 adults comfortably, plus they can stand up (and walk around) inside the van. At the same time, it can carry about anything you could need to carry. Inside, protected, in air conditioned comfort. The difference is that it is a diesel vehicle. Now can you imagine what the fuel economy would be if the silver car used diesel, too?

The fact is, there are diesel cars that get really great mpg. They have for a long time. They're driving Volkswagens in Germany that get 62 mpg. (see http://www.greencar.com/features/vw-polo-bluemotion/ ) They're diesel vehicles. They're compact, but much larger than the "Smart(?) for Two". Why can't we have this vehicle in the US??? This aggravates me.

Diesel is running cleaner than ever in the newer engines, with the ultra low sulfur mixture that's sold now. Yes, diesel costs about 20% more than gas does, but gee whiz - 62 mpg! And if you are really concerned about that all important CARBON FOOTPRINT, guess what? Burning fewer gallons equals less CO2 emissions. No sophisticated hybrids with hugely expensive batteries that will need replacement. No new technologies. Just simple diesel. And diesel engines last three times as long as gasoline engines. That engine that is getting worn out at 125,000 miles wouldn't wear out until 375,000 miles if it were diesel.

Sigh. I can't say this made me feel any better. Maybe someone will read it who can make a difference.

Well, despite all my best intentions, this family is becoming more "green" than ever. Maybe we are being caught up in the hype (I doubt it!) but more likely we are shocked by the high cost of fuel and the promise of higher energy costs. We learned that our electric utility is going to raise rates 16%. My philosophy on this is that I am happy to be "green", just so long as it doesn't cost me any more money. I am much more motivated by saving money. As far as carbon footprint goes --- well, lets say that after reading some books on the subject, I am NOT a big believer in human-induced global warming.

So.... we have actually begun to cut back on our energy use. We got an electric bill yesterday that showed that we have consumed 401 fewer kilowatthours than the same month last year. And this year is definitely hotter. That translates to about a $45 savings. Our electric bill for the past month was $138. (where we live, everything runs on electricity)

Here is what we have been doing:

1. Driving a lot less. We no longer take those casual one destination drives to the library, supermarket, bank, or store. We wait until we are already scheduled to go out for something else, and then add on these stops along the way.

2. While we are not really "hypermiling", we try to drive economically, by coasting more to stop lights, reducing our maximum speed, and driving like there is an egg on our accelerator pedal. It has helped to eek out a few more mpg out of our Hyundai, Mitsubishi, and Freightliner. (I'll explain the Freightliner in another post some time). They just reported that fuel consumption dropped by a whopping 1.8 percent in April. I believe that if the country goes back to 55 mph speed limit on the highways, we as a nation would dramatically decrease our fuel consumption overnight!

3. Home air conditioner use. We have two central a/c units -- the living area, and the bedrooms. We leave the bedroom unit off all day and night, only running it full blast for two hours before bedtime. This works fine, as long as we run the ceiling fan over our bed the rest of the night. If my son needs to do school work in the bedroom area, he asks for a/c, and that's fine, as long as he turns it off after finishing his work. My daughter, who at age 5 still needs some daytime naps, doesn't even miss the a/c.

4. The living area a/c is set to 82 degrees, and is on all day long, with ceiling fans to help. This has been fine, but our chocolate lab did complain some. He thinks we're nuts. I trimmed his fur a little. Hopefully he will get used to it soon. He is very spoiled about a/c. At night, we shut the a/c off to the living area, where he lives, and leave a ceiling fan on for him.

5. Our house has two hot water heaters. One for the bathrooms, and one for the kitchen/laundry. The kitchen/laundry is on a solar heater, and this provides 100% of its demand during the summer. In the coldest months of winter, we have to close that circuit breaker, but the rest of the year it is open.

6. Using a clothesline. This is one area I could improve. I run our dryer too much, and it is a big consumer of electricity. I hung out the laundry during the cool dry season, but haven't been during the hot humid (rainy) season. I am not sure how much$$ this saves, but I might try to do it some more this summer.

7. Swimming pool pump - can't cut back too much here, but we run it 12 hours a day, which is a slight reduction over last year.

8. My husband says I should turn off our desktop computer and CRT monitor overnight. It does pump out some heat. I am afraid that will lessen the life span of the computer. Anybody have any thoughts on this one? We already have the CRT shutting down after a short time.

So, that is how we are reducing our carbon footprint. It is amazing how one can get used to the 82 degrees thermostat setting. My husband recently returned from a business trip in Mexico. He said that the engineers in that office are really accustomed to higher temperature setpoints. They felt cold when the temperature was set below 80. When we were in Vietnam, it was the same. A/C was used very sparingly. I think we Americans are so accustomed to cheap energy that we overdo it. Get real. Many restaurants and public places can be freezing! If they would just raise their thermostats a little bit, look at how much energy could be saved. Okay - I will get off my soapbox now.

Have a nice day!