Lent is a time that Christians spend focusing on their relationship with God by stripping down to the essentials.  For many of us, this means giving up chocolate, alcohol or smoking.  This can also be a time to dedicate to volunteering and helping others.

In this spirit of the season, I saw an interesting story on Fast Company entitled “British Bishops Call for Carbon Fast During Lent”.  A group of British bishops ran a successful “carbon fast” last year and they are calling on followers to again reduce their energy usage.

Over at The Daily Green, they offer “9 Things You Can Give Up For Lent That Will Help The Environment”.  Here are their suggestions:

1. Give up plastic (and paper) bags
2. Stop buying bottled water
3. Stop receiving unwanted catalogs
4. Give up conventional detergents
5. Give up the clothes dryer
6. Give up conventional toilet paper
7. Give up paper towels
8. Give up 2 degrees
9. Give up dry cleaning

Sometimes committing to these actions for a short period of time can result in long term changes to our consumption habits.  So go ahead, give up the wine or chocolate, but also give up a few habits that waste energy.  You will improve your own wellbeing, the struggling economy and the health of the planet.  If you could share a few rides, that would ne nice too.

photo credit: jezobeljones

To celebrate President’s Day, here is a classic video from Animaniacs.  It amazes me that they can fit 42 Presidents in a 3 minute song.  This video stops with President Clinton, but maybe someday it will updated to add Bush and Obama.

Are low gas prices diametrically opposed to our goal of energy independence?  It would seem so.  When gas prices were over $4/gallon, everyone was clamoring for alternative energy.  Now that gas prices have fallen below and remain under $2/gallon, the clamor has gone very quiet.

In a story from the Indianapolis Star, they say “We Can Only Dream About Low Gas Prices, Independence”.  The writer goes on to explain what it would take to achieve these two goals:

To Get Low Gas Prices

• Encourage more domestic drilling
• Give companies incentives to drill where oil is cheap (Middle East, Russia)
• This would make us even more dependent

To Get Independent

• Make gas prices really high
• Large tax would anger many
• Politicians fear voter backlash

Given these assumptions, then yes, these two objectives do seem to be mutually exclusive.  The story goes on to say that we continue to gamble on innovation and technological advances in an attempt to solve these two contradictory goals.  So far we have been unsuccessful.  The electric car is the next such “fix” on the horizon and it faces an uphill battle.  Low gas prices mean that it will take a lot longer to recoup the additional $10,000 you have to spend to purchase one.  The new stimulus package will offer tax breaks, but this ends up costing us all in the long run.

In principle, I agree with this basic premise and it is hard to argue with history.  The problem I have with this thinking is that it never addresses conservation.  Instead of trying to reduce our wasteful consumption, we continue to focus on finding more oil at a cheap price.  We can keep gas prices low and reduce our dependence at the same time by simply cutting our usage.

Click on the links below to see the price tag of our current commuting habits:

• Lots of cars cost lots of money
• Over $60 billion wasted annually in traffic
• Fight for energy independence

Instead of looking for the next “fad diet”, we need to focus on consuming less and conserving more.  For long term weight loss, you need to eat less and exercise, it really is that simple.  Can we curb our voracious appetite for oil and improve our energy efficiency?

photo credit: Wesley Fryer

On Wednesday, Google introduced a new mapping feature called Latitude.  This works with Google Maps to allow smartphone and laptop users to share their current location.  So if your friend wants to broadcast their location, you can check to see where they are.  Like Facebook or MySpace, you decide who to share this information with and it will not store past movements, only your current position.

In case you are concerned with privacy, Google has a good YouTube video showing how Latitude will offer you protection:

So how does this work?  In this story from PC World, they detail some of the technology involved.  They also walk through a couple of different examples and offer a few screen shots to illustrate the process.

This technology is not new, I wrote about this last year in my post, GPS – Where Are you?.  Many cell phones now have built in GPS capability with location-based service that is available from cell phone networks.  So Google is not the first to do this, they are just releasing it on a much bigger scale.

I definitely understand the privacy concerns, but I am very excited about the potential of this service.  Now you could allow family and friends to track your location while accepting a ride.  Would this help ease some of our fears about ride sharing?

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*

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

Even with all the benefits of Passenger Energy, it is still a tough sell to convince people to begin an organized program of paid ride sharing.  What other incentives could be offered?

The associations behind both wind and solar energy are making push for refundable tax credits.  These credits are like a rebate since any payments can then be applied towards taxes that are due.  They can actually reduce tax liability below zero, so the government would send out a check for any additional earned credits.

There is also an interesting story by Josie Garthwaite entitled “Why Refundable Tax Credits Are Important for Clean Power”.  This story makes a strong case for how refundable tax credits could boost production of renewable energy.  Additional reimbursements will help drive increased investing in clean solar and wind technology.

This is an interesting concept that I think could also be applied to Passenger Energy.  Instead of just focusing on new energy production, why not reward increased conservation?  We could track commuting habits to allow individuals to earn credits for either providing or accepting rides.

I think we are so focused on keeping up with our current excessive energy demands that we are missing a bigger opportunity to just reduce our consumption.  We should still aggressively pursue alternative energy sources, but we should also offer compensation for all who consume less.  Don’t you agree that it is better to attack a problem this large from both sides?

photo credit: Torley

Almost every town is America has an army of school buses for transporting our children.  Just imagine every family having to drive each of our kids to and from school each day.  That would be incredibly inefficient.

The American School Bus Council (ASBC) has some very compelling statistics to illustrate the benefits. Did you know there are almost half a million buses providing rides to over 26 million students every day?  Here are some more numbers that may surprise you:

Pay4Rides could achieve similar savings if 4 people shared a ride versus 4 individuals driving their own vehicles.  Even if just 2 people share, we still cut their consumption in half.  Multiply that by some of the 250 million drivers in the U.S. and we could save a lot of gas and money every day.

Now there are not the normal car pool issues with kids since they are all on the same schedule.  So yes it is harder to group rides for our daily commutes, but it is not impossible.  We just need to work together to develop creative solutions.

Maybe we can learn a lesson from our children.  Sharing rides while someone else drives is a smart solution to many of today’s problems.  Go ahead, do your homework and let me know what you learn.

photo credit: krispdk

Now that we have begun a new year, it’s time to reflect on what we need to change and resolve to follow through on our intentions.  Many of us will try to do one or more of the following:

• Get out of debt
• Exercise
• Eat better
• Spend more time with family
• Get organized
• Learn something new

If you smoke or drink, quitting may be on top of your list.  If you do not look out for your own health, then who will?  There are many things that are under our own control and it is up to us to try and do our best every day.

Now what about the health of our planet?  Aren’t we all responsible for leaving a better future for our children and grand children?  So in addition to any personal New Years Resolutions you may have made, how about adding a few public resolutions?

• Reduce waste
• Conserve our resources
• Help others

Pay4Rides is an opportunity to help you meet both your own goals and those of society.  Organized paid ride sharing would improve our environment (cut greenhouse gases, slow climate change, conserve energy), bolster the economy (save/earn money, reduce foreign imports, lower gas prices) and reduce traffic (save time, get more things done, ease burden on troubled roads).  Join me in resolving to make a difference this year!

Please share your personal and public goals for 2009 in the comments.

photo credit: debaird™

Here is a very thought provoking story, “What if Climate Change is Not an Energy Problem?”.  Alex’s basic premise is that while burning fossil fuels greatly contributes to greenhouse gases, our consumption habits can have an even greater impact.  So just switching to alternative energy without increasing conservation will have much less of an impact on the environment

He raises three important considerations

1. Whether we use the energy we create
2. How we use it
3. How we live

The first point describes the waste in many of our current energy systems.  Not all energy that is generated is consumed; much of it is lost in the process and distribution.  The second point addresses how our current inefficiencies are wasting large amounts of energy.  Point three goes to the heart of the problem with over consumption.  We can all have an immediate impact by just increasing our conservation efforts.

I strongly agree with the basic premise of this article and applaud Alex for presenting this idea.  Regarding suburban sprawl, I don’t think we can undo our current housing situation.  Smart construction and compact communities are great for some, but not for all.  I live in a quiet neighborhood and consider our suburban setting a wonderful enviroment for raising children.

Pay4Rides would directly address 2 of the 3 major points in this article.  It is up to the energy producers to gain more efficiency in their production process, but we can help elsewhere.  How we use energy could be greatly improved by tapping into unused passenger capacity with many of today’s single occupancy drivers.  How we live could be enhanced by people working together to better utilize our existing resources.  As we go into the New Year and people start diets, remember that it is always easier to just eat less than it is to burn extra calories.  The same could be said for energy, consume less and conserve more.  The choice is yours.

photo credit: woodleywonderworks