When to replace your Clunker? - Transition Whatcom2024-03-29T01:51:27Zhttp://transitionwhatcom.ning.com/forum/topics/when-to-replace-your-clunker?groupUrl=lightsoutenergyquantification&feed=yes&xn_auth=noI also am not convinced that…tag:transitionwhatcom.ning.com,2010-06-02:2723460:Comment:232002010-06-02T23:43:28.741ZHeather Khttp://transitionwhatcom.ning.com/profile/HeatherK
I also am not convinced that purchasing new ''gas saving" vehicles actually reduces the useage of fossil fuels consumed during both its production & useage. And the cultural and environmental effects of mining for the new materials is also not calculated into the formulas.<br />
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My intuition and values led me to purchase a used 8 yr old 1977 toyota corona wagon back in 85 and I kept it running for over 25 yrs of its life and over 200 K miles. I must have developed this habit of caring for…
I also am not convinced that purchasing new ''gas saving" vehicles actually reduces the useage of fossil fuels consumed during both its production & useage. And the cultural and environmental effects of mining for the new materials is also not calculated into the formulas.<br />
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My intuition and values led me to purchase a used 8 yr old 1977 toyota corona wagon back in 85 and I kept it running for over 25 yrs of its life and over 200 K miles. I must have developed this habit of caring for mechanical items early in my twenties as I stll have my 1979 bicycle that continues to roll as long as I keep a few parts replaced, and riding downhill I go faster than 5 mpg.<br />
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I would rather see my tax money go towards helping to make repairs on vehicles. Very good Ehben, thank you fo…tag:transitionwhatcom.ning.com,2010-06-02:2723460:Comment:231892010-06-02T18:31:31.085ZDavid MacLeodhttp://transitionwhatcom.ning.com/profile/DavidMacLeod
Very good Ehben, thank you for posting this.<br />
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Tangent: Reminds me of Ivan Illich, who said the average American travels at the speed of 5 mph when calculating all the time and energy that goes into attention to our cars. He didn't share his math, however, as you have done here. Very interesting essay, though and worth reading in its entirety.<br />
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<i>"The model American male devotes more than 1600 hours a year to his car. He sits in it while it goes and while it stands idling. He parks it and…</i>
Very good Ehben, thank you for posting this.<br />
<br />
Tangent: Reminds me of Ivan Illich, who said the average American travels at the speed of 5 mph when calculating all the time and energy that goes into attention to our cars. He didn't share his math, however, as you have done here. Very interesting essay, though and worth reading in its entirety.<br />
<br />
<i>"The model American male devotes more than 1600 hours a year to his car. He sits in it while it goes and while it stands idling. He parks it and searches for it. He earns the money to put down on it and to meet the monthly installments. He works to pay for gasoline, tolls, insurance, taxes, and tickets. He spends four of his sixteen waking hours on the road or gathering his resources for it. And this figure does not take into account the time consumed by other activities dictated by transport: time spent in hospitals, traffic courts, and garages; time spent watching automobile commercials or attending consumer education meetings to improve the quality of the next buy. <b>The model American puts in 1600 hours to get 7500 miles: less than five miles per hour.</b> In countries deprived of a transportation industry, people manage to do the same, walking wherever they want to go, and they allocate only 3 to 8 percent of their society's time budget to traffic instead of 28 percent. What distinguishes the traffic in rich countries from the traffic in poor countries is not more mileage per hour of lifetime for the majority, but more hours of compulsory consumption of high doses of energy, packaged and unequally distributed by the transportation industry."</i><br />
<a href="http://ranprieur.com/readings/illichcars.html" target="_blank">http://ranprieur.com/readings/illichcars.html</a>