An Oil Free Holiday

[mprokosch11]

I'm sorry this has nothing to do with CAP, but it does affect every single CAP member.

A few kids from my school have organized this Oil Free Holiday. The idea is that on Monday, June 2nd, everyone who wants to participate does not drive their car for a day.

Acceptable forms of transportation are biking, walking, public transportation, or at the bare minimum, car pooling.

The whole purpose of this is not to lower oil prices (that would be nice though), but to raise awareness and just break our bond with oil.

I for one will be walking to and from school (which is a good 5 miles one way) along with about 50-75 other students from my high school.

Anyone can participate just by walking or biking to work this Monday.

[whatevah]

that's cool, but what does it change?  ie, what is the goal for the event?  Everybody will forget about it in two weeks, if it's just to "raise awareness".

[mprokosch11]

that's cool, but what does it change?  ie, what is the goal for the event?  Everybody will forget about it in two weeks, if it's just to "raise awareness".

How many people here don't use their car to get work? My guess is not many. If for one day you walk or ride your bike to work and you realize that it not hard at all, you will end up doing it more often, and thus saving money and being less dependent on gasoline.

[mikeylikey]

So, I hope you put the IPOD down, not cook your TV dinner, turn the television off, shut the cell phone off, not use any ink pens, unplug the computer, don't listen to any Cd's, don't wear tennis shoes, take off the plastic wrist watch, don't use any deodorant, and basically not eat anything this day as well. 

Does anyone want to make a guess where I am coming from?? 

Simple answere........Plastics.  Each day Americans use more money in plastic products than they do to fill up their cars for an entire week.  Anyone know where plastic comes from??  Natural gas and Oil.  Natural gas and oil are linked commodities.  You need both to make plastic.  So the more plastic we use= more gasoline will cost the next day. 

I wish people would research before they jump on the "oh gas is so expensive" band wagon.  Gasoline is only a small percentage of the actual oil in a barrel of OIL.  Anyone ever see how the refinement process works? 

So, if you think your little "don't drive" campaign will work, it wont.  More things are made from the majority of oil than gasoline. 

Mikey is just upset, because every Friday when leaving campus there is a group of bicycle riders that take up all five lanes of traffic heading out of the university section of town.  They go slow, and do it on purpose because they think everyone should be like them.  Freaking hippies!!!

[Pylon]

How many people here don't use their car to get work?

This guy doesn't.

I use the public bus system.  Sometimes I ride my bike part of the way during good weather for exercise.

[mprokosch11]

So, I hope you put the IPOD down, not cook your TV dinner, turn the television off, shut the cell phone off, not use any ink pens, unplug the computer, don't listen to any Cd's, don't wear tennis shoes, take off the plastic wrist watch, don't use any deodorant, and basically not eat anything this day as well. 

Does anyone want to make a guess where I am coming from?? 

Simple answere........Plastics.  Each day Americans use more money in plastic products than they do to fill up their cars for an entire week.  Anyone know where plastic comes from??  Natural gas and Oil.  Natural gas and oil are linked commodities.  You need both to make plastic.  So the more plastic we use= more gasoline will cost the next day. 

I wish people would research before they jump on the "oh gas is so expensive" band wagon.  Gasoline is only a small percentage of the actual oil in a barrel of OIL.  Anyone ever see how the refinement process works? 

So, if you think your little "don't drive" campaign will work, it wont.  More things are made from the majority of oil than gasoline. 

Mikey is just upset, because every Friday when leaving campus there is a group of bicycle riders that take up all five lanes of traffic heading out of the university section of town.  They go slow, and do it on purpose because they think everyone should be like them.  Freaking hippies!!!

I realize that it will have no effect on the price of oil, but it will have an effect on your wallet. Simple math here, if you drive less, you use less gas, and less gas means more money in your wallet.

The whole idea is to make people realize that if they live within a reasonable distance from their work, you do not need to drive there. Not driving as often to work will add up and rather quickly considering gasoline prices.

[mikeylikey]

^ OK.  Walk to school.  Your School bus is burning more of my tax dollars than my tank of gas is.

And we are only talking about pennies here. 

I understand your agenda and cause, but it is not an educated response to our "fuel crisis" (phrase coined on CNN in 2006, to protest the President).

I would love to take the bus to work, but it would end up costing me more in fare and time than driving does.  I can get a bus pass for $200.00 per month.  That is through the school and county.  OR I could spend $175.00 on GAS.  Tough choice......my extra $25.00 goes toward Wendy's and Taco Bell each week.

[Eclipse]

^^Define "reasonable" in terms of distance to work.

Most major population centers, your state included, have large residential communities and people commute 30 minutes to 1 hour or more to get there - substantially longer if you're riding a bike.

Most people cannot arrive to work in biking shorts soaked in sweat, nor can they afford to double their commute time because of other life realities.

This is a commuter society, built and designed on the (admittedly bad) idea that you can live wherever you want and work wherever you want.  And you can't just "move closer to work" because in a lot of cases we've created "work zones" and "living zones" - anyone who has ever seen downtown Manhattan, LA, or Chicago at noon on Saturday understands what this means.

Most people want grass where they live (i.e. the suburbs), and most companies want economies of scale for their business (i.e. office buildings).  These two desires are not generally compatible.

As someone who commutes primarily by commuter train and rides a motorcycle whenever I can, my sensitivity to fuel prices is pretty low (i.e. I don't care enough to think about it), however that doesn't change the fact that were it not for happenstance of where I live, I'd be driving like all the other goobers on the road each morning.

There will need to be a significant cultural shift, and gas prices in the $8-10 range before most Americans will think about it past the 2 minute news story.

Gas prices right now are being driven by emerging countries, not US driving habits.  Couple that with oil companies that are riding the bandwagon into record profits.

My guess is the government steps in and starts overtly discussing the "R-word" (regulation) at around $6.50-7.00, especially if Obama is elected.  Once that happens prices will rapidly drop for consumer fuel almost immediately to under $3.00, where they will stay until Americans get complacent again and they start to rise.

[mikeylikey]

For the heck of it, I went down to the garage to see if I could find my bike.  Well I did!  If anyone has a seat and fly gear for a Schwinn cr455 from 1989, I would greatly appreciate it. 

If not, I guess at 9:30 PM tonight I will start the walk to work!  Wish me luck. 

[SarDragon]

My sweetie works 21 miles from the house. There is public transportation available for a portion of that trip, but at a time and money premium. The public transportation (SD Trolley) costs more, and she still has to drive to the station (farther away from work than the house), and then walk 1.2 miles from the destination station to her workplace. That is not practical at all.

Got another, more practical, idea?

[JayT]

http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/nogas.asp

[Eclipse]

Got another, more practical, idea?

HOVER BIKES!

[mprokosch11]

Reasonable Distance- In my opinion is about a mile. Which is a 20 minute walk at a comfortable pace.

Mikey- From what I sense in your sarcasm, you live quite a ways from your work and this day wouldn't apply to you. And those pennies will add up especially when gas hits $5 a gallon.

These negative feedbacks are what is stopping people from trying new ideas.

In my school, two teachers who live about a mile from the school bike at least once or twice a week. They do it in shirt and ties and they are not covered in sweat when they arrive.

JThemann- I already stated that this Oil Free Holiday will not affect gasoline prices (I'm not that naive), but it will mean you spend less money on gas if you make it a habit.

I'm sorry if you live 20 miles away from your work, my entire point is if you think you can walk to work, go for it and you might find out that it is cheaper and healthier too.

[Eclipse]

A June 2007 ABC news survey indicated the average commute distance for drivers is:   16 Miles
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Traffic/story?id=485098&page=1


A 1997 survey of bicyclists (most recent I could find, sorry), indicated that the average bicycle commute is 7.2 miles
http://www.bicyclinglife.com/Library/Moritz1.htm

Also, what do you do when it rains, snows, or is incredibly hot / cold?

[Pylon]

My sweetie works 21 miles from the house. There is public transportation available for a portion of that trip, but at a time and money premium. The public transportation (SD Trolley) costs more, and she still has to drive to the station (farther away from work than the house), and then walk 1.2 miles from the destination station to her workplace. That is not practical at all.

Got another, more practical, idea?

It's always hit or miss.  Depends on the city you're in, your location within the city in relation to the bus/subway/trolly lines, times the bus runs versus times you need it to run, etc.

I'm fortunate that a bus line runs a 3-minute stroll from my house.  With one easy transfer (with a Starbucks right nearby while I wait for my transfer), I get literally brought to my employer's entrance.  The bus gets me to my office 5 minutes before I need to be there, only costs $1.25, and only takes about 90 minutes (30 minutes is the commute time by car).

Works out great.  They even have bike racks on the bus for when I want to ride the second half of the way and get my exercise on.   

However, for many people, it is not that simple or simply not even possible to use public transport to get to work (or to get there on time).

I can get a bus pass for $200.00 per month.

That is outrageous!

Here in Syracuse, a monthly, unlimited bus pass only costs about $40.   Heck, when I lived in Paris in 2004, a monthly, unlimited bus & metro (subway) pass within the city limits was only like 45€!  Your public transport people are a little messed up if they're charging $200/mo for a pass.

[mikeylikey]

http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/nogas.asp

Wow...where do they get their facts and figures from.  Plus the math is off.  What a freaking joke!

[mikeylikey]

With one easy transfer (with a Starbucks right nearby while I wait for my transfer), I get literally brought to my employer's entrance. 

Man......I would spend all my transfer money on a Venti Mocha Frap or a Iced Chai.  Starbucks is my one and only evil vice.  I will knock people over that take too long in line ordering their coffee.  But I digress......back to walking to work and stuff   

[Eclipse]

http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/nogas.asp

Wow...where do they get their facts and figures from.  Plus the math is off.  What a freaking joke!

Its "big lie" theory in action, and typical of American attitudes where a quick, easy fix is the only thing people want to hear.

To the thread's point, if you live a mile from work, then you're an idiot if you drive, I'll accept that. 

Another amusing side to this is that a lot of these "easy answers" come from the collegiate world, where a large number of
professors and students have never had a "real" job, live on campus, and rely on mom and dad's huge carbon footprint to be able to afford attendance at the next Greenpeace rally.

Oil is expensive because its in huge demand, and the producers are not benevolent to keeping prices reasonable.  Its also tied into local tax structures, and environmental demands in regards to the expensive blending requirements (i.e. IL). Let's also not forget all those dirty US refineries we shut down in the 70's and 80's because of pollution - well, now we have to pay someone else to make your fuel clear.

Fuel is easy to latch on to because its the only "oil" most Americans buy (semi-)directly.  While "transportation" accounts for nearly 50% of consumption in the US, and gasoline is 2/3 of that, nearly everything manufactured in a modern society contains petroleum products or by-products. Look around you.  If its not leather, wood, glass, or rock, or metal, its probably plastic, and the leather, wood, glass, & rocks likely have petroleum products used in their manufacture or finishing.

Oh, and the next time you see a protester who insists we invaded Iraq just for the oil, show them your last gas receipt.

Say what you want about the Roman Legions, but if they were occupying the largest oil deposit in the world, they'd be paying .023 denarius a gallon for gas.

[mikeylikey]

Another amusing side to this is that a lot of these "easy answers" come from the collegiate world, where a large number of professors and students have never had a "real" job, live on campus, and rely on mom and dad's huge carbon footprint to be able to afford attendance at the next Greenpeace rally.

It's the whole "Dude I went to College for one Semester and my Proffessors opened my eyes, I can now see how evil the United States really is" theory.  Also thrown in there is the "make illegal drugs legal" rant, the "I deserve a college degree because my Mom and Dad are paying for it, even if I get failing grades" approach, and the "We can get drafted at 18, so us college students should be allowed to drink at 18" belief. 

I lump the above into tyrannical Hippie BS.  Man do I hate Hippies. 

[Eclipse]

I lump the above into tyrannical Hippie BS.  Man do I hate Hippies. 

Heh...



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