There were two stories in Time Magazine that caught my attention last week.  One is about living longer and the other is about dying, but they have one key thing in common: reducing our air pollution.

In the first story, “Want to Live Longer? Cut the Pollution”, they cite a recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine.  The study details increased life spans for people who live in areas where pollution has been curbed.  Now this should not come as a surprise to anyone, but it is reassuring to see statistics to back it up.

In the second story, “Study: U.S. Trees Dying at Alarming Rate”, they look at the findings of a thirty-year study published in the journal Science.  The study finds that the death rate of trees in the western U.S. has more than doubled in the last few decades.  These are trees of all sizes and types in healthy, well-established forests.

We have already lost millions of tress to beetle infestations, but these are apparently healthy trees without evidence of infestation that have been weakened by global warming.  The real irony is that trees soak up large quantities of carbon dioxide and are critically important in slowing climate change.  So these trees will not be around to help clean the air and their dying actually releases carbon dioxide back into the air as a kind of global warming double whammy.

As temperatures slowly rise, this problem will worsen since the summer season will be longer which causes trees to be stressed and vulnerable to drought conditions.  More trees dying will have a direct effect on our air quality and ultimately our own longevity.

Aggressively reducing our auto emissions is a huge step in slowing the current rate of climate change.  Pay4Rides would help trees live longer, which improves the health of the planet and the air we breathe.  Now aren’t those a couple of great reasons to share rides?

photo credit: *PaysImaginaire*

Last Tuesday was the presidential inauguration and downtown DC braced for a very large crowd.  But a funny thing happened, there was no traffic.  In this story, they examine how over four times the number of daily commuters entered the city on this day.

This proves that if people just work together using mass transit and ride sharing that we can have a dramatic impact on our daily commutes.  On inauguration day, an estimated 1.8 million people got to their destination with more ease than the typical 400,000 daily commuters.  So even with most of the bridges closed to traffic, four and half times as many people entered downtown DC.

On normal workdays in Washington, 40% of the commuters or 160,000 people drive alone.  Single passenger vehicles are the biggest contributor to our nations gridlock problems.  Getting more people to utilize mass transit, group rides, bike and walk would improve everyone’s daily commute.

I know the current thinking is that we need to greatly enhance our nation’s roadways and build more lanes.  While this will help, it is going to cost us billions and billions of dollars as you can see in the stimulus proposal.

Last Tuesday was a historic day in many ways.  In the spirit of cooperation and national unity, we saw a great number of people avoid the nasty traffic that plagues us every single day.  I would like to see this type of togetherness become the rule, instead of the exception.

photo credit: acnatta

On Monday night, I saw a story on my local Fox news explaining a proposal by Mayor Bloomberg for Shared Cab Rides Coming to NYC.  This would allow riders to share cabs so they each pay less while the cabbie actually earns more.  So instead of just providing one ride for $25, the driver could charge 2 riders $20 each or maybe 3 riders would pay $15 each.  And don’t forget the tips.

By permitting cab drivers to pick up additional fares, they could attract new riders who might not choose a cab if they had to pay the full fare themselves.  The Mayor said that a shared-ride system is a win-win for the city.

Think of all the people landing at NYC area airports who need rides to the city.  Grouping riders not only makes financial sense, but would also reduce traffic, cut gasoline consumption and help the environment.  Is there anything not to like?

The only problem is many people do not like to share, they prefer their privacy.  I can understand this, but wouldn’t all of these benefits offset the slight inconvenience of losing some personal space?  Most cab rides are relatively short, so it should not be that hard to tolerate another passenger.  If you do not want to talk, plug in your iPod and listen to some of your favorite music to pass the time.

So maybe next time you hail a cab, you will have some company for the ride.  Think about it, wouldn’t sharing a ride make the trip in a cab fair?

photo credit: timpearce4816

Today President Obama endorsed efforts to allow states adopt rules for stricter emission standards.  In a USA Today story, Obama pushing stronger fuel-efficiency standard, they detail many of the reasons behind this initiative.

This may seem like bad news for the automakers, but they know these changes are necessary.  We need to focus on lessening our dependence on foreign oil for our own national security.  In a Wall Street Journal story, they make some excellent points:

President Obama again linked his energy agenda to the economy, the environment, and national security. Spending hundreds of billions of dollars on foreign oil helps finance terrorism, subjects Americans to volatile gasoline prices, and courts the “irreversible catastrophe” of climate change. “These are the facts,” he said.

This won’t happen over night, but it is a very good first step.  We need to aggressively curb our greenhouse gas emissions and slow global warming.  California has been ahead of the curve on this issue and it is about time the rest of the country caught up.

Higher gas mileage and lower emissions, sounds pretty obvious, doesn’t it?

photo credit: net_efekt

This song by John Mayer has recently been associated with President Obama and his inauguration.  The lyrics are very representative of how powerless many of us feel with our elected officials.  Here, take a listen:

Me and all my friends
We’re all misunderstood
They say we stand for nothing and
There’s no way we ever could

Now we see everything that’s going wrong
With the world and those who lead it
We just feel like we don’t have the means
To rise above and beat it

So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change

Hopefully with a new administration, people will lose some of their past apathy and get energized.  There is a strong feeling that President Obama has a certain amount of political capital and goodwill behind his initiatives.  I hope this translates into active participation to ensure good decisions are made by our leaders.

So get involved in change, the waiting is over.

As President Obama continues to build his cabinet, I don’t like what I am hearing from his nominee to the Transportation Department.  In this Wall Street Journal story, they say that he is making the case to give a bigger role to the private sector in rebuilding our roads and bridges.  Here is a quote from the story:

“There’s not going to be enough money,” Mr. LaHood told the Senate Commerce Committee. “I think we do have to think outside the box.”

Now I agree that there is not enough money for all the necessary transportation projects, but how is this thinking outside the box?  Allowing private investors to build, operate and maintain new toll roads and bridges is very dangerous to our economy.

In another story, Mr. LaHood gives his endorsement for more toll roads.  This is such a short sighted strategy to “fix” our long term transportation problems.  State governments are desperate to make up their budget gaps and these large upfront payments look very attractive.  Unfortunately, as time goes, by the private investors enjoy steady returns on their investment from hard working commuters.

Here is one such example where a foreign corporation contributes less than $350 million to a $1.9 billion taxpayer funded project, yet they are set to enjoy 80 years of profit from the tolls.  The private company will build High Occupancy Toll lanes on the Capital Beltway in Northern Virginia.  Once the lanes are completed in 4 years, drivers will be charged $1 a mile during rush hours.  Are you kidding me, who can afford this on a daily basis?

I have written a few other posts on how much I despise tolls.  They are one of the most inefficient ways to fund a road and they greatly contribute to traffic, accidents and additional carbon emissions.  Once erected, they never come down and the prices rise with little or no control from the people who actually use the roads.

Since when is building more tolls and sticking commuters with the bill considered “thinking outside the box”?  The answer can not be to just build additional transportation infrastructure since we continue to always exceed the capacity of our roadways.  Real innovative thinking will produce solutions that cut our consumption and conserve energy.  Don’t you agree?

photo credit: richardmasoner

Here is a story that caught my attention earlier today; Oil cost hedging is not fail-safe, as airline and consumer experience shows.  In an effort to eliminate their risk, United Airlines and a Metro-New York City housing complex wound up losing a lot of money.

The price of oil was so unpredictable last year, that some analysts were projecting $200 a barrel.  Trying to be proactive, United Airlines attempted to control fuel costs with hedge contracts to control soaring prices.  If prices continued to rise, they would be covered, but they did not anticipate the price collapse in the second half of 2008.  So instead of benefiting with cheap oil, they were locked in at the now higher rates.

Here are some very educated analysts who got it completely wrong.  You see, hedging does not eliminate risk, it simply minimizes it.  The exposure comes when markets move wildly against you, then hedging can lead to loses.

Normally you would think of hedging as a safe play and usually you would be right.  Unfortunately the volatile price of oil destroyed a smart plan that was just trying to protect against loss. This proves that we can not reasonably plan or predict the future of oil.

Are you willing to continue betting our economy on oil when we obviously have such little control over price?  We need to spread our risk over many other energy alternatives.  Now that is how we can properly hedge our bets going forward.

photo credit: stoneflower

Today was a historic day in many ways and we welcomed a new president.  There is so much coverage of this event that I do not have much to add.  I just wanted to highlight one line from President Obama’s speech:

“… each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.”

If you agree with this statement then you know we need to make significant changes in our energy consumption.  In the spirit of cooperation, please share any ideas you have on how to make Pay4Rides a reality.

On Monday, we celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  This became a federal holiday when President Regan signed a bill in 1983.  It was then observed for the first time in 1986.

In 1994, this holiday transformed into a national day of community service.  This is not a day to just pause and reflect, but a day to act.  In Dr. King’s spirit of service to others, we need to make this more than just a single day of service.  I hope we all feel compelled to volunteer and try to contribute every day.

President-elect Obama is now calling on all Americans to make an ongoing commitment to our communities. This is a huge opportunity for us to confront many of the problems we face and come together in a shared purpose.  They have created a web site call Renew America Together where you can make commitments and share results with others.

I believe Pay4Rides could evolve into an incredible opening for all of us to give back.  By providing or accepting rides, we would be conserving our vital energy resources and helping our environment.  Many small sacrifices could have an enormous positive effect on our daily lives.  What do you think?

photo credit: Michael Verdi

On Tuesday President Obama will be sworn in with the promise of bringing about real change.  This is a great opportunity for this country and I am hopeful that he can fulfill this promise.

For this week, I went looking for a song about change and I think I found the perfect one.  More than 10 years ago I picked up the album Tall Blonde Helicopter by Francis Dunnery which includes this wonderful song.  I could not find a video for just this song, but the one below features Francis Dunnery talking about his music with the track “I Believe I Can Change My World” playing throughout:

I believed in Mahatma Gandhi when nonviolence was his faith
I believed in Martin Luther when he said “I have a dream”
I believed in Winston Churchill when he said “we stand together”
I believed in Muhammad Ali when he said “it’s not my war”

And I believe in a miracle
And I believe you can be my girl
And I believe how much I love you
And I believe I can change my world

I believe in all the Seth books and the freeing of the mind
I believe in Mother Nature and the spirit of mankind
I believe in Betty Friedan, Gertrude Lawrence and Rosa Parks
I believe in Margaret Sanger, May Magdalene and Joan of Arc

And I believe in a miracle
And I believe you can be my girl
And I believe how much I love you
And I believe I can change my world

I believed in Malcolm X when he said “Brotherhood for all”
I believed in Neville Chamberlain when he said “peace for our time”
I believed in Michael Jordan when he said “whatever it takes”
I believed in all religions untwisted by mankind
I believed in Johnny Lennon when he said “give peace a chance”
I believed in Tonya Harding when she said “I’ll take the blame”
I believed in Abraham Lincoln’s “better angels of our nature”
I believed in Cat Stevens when he said he had to go
I believed in Saint Francis preaching hatred to love
I believe I can change my world

I hope you enjoy this song and embrace the message of change with our new president.  I just have one question, do YOU believe YOU can your world?