Ok, sometimes I don’t get past the headline, everyone who knows me is accustomed to me storming away from the computer screen, ranting; or throwing down a paper, ranting. Usually, however, it is only news that does this to me. But, the stupid, it burns…even in “environmental tip” articles now, apparently. And yes, there is the chance the article got better after #1; but you know, it IS Friday and there is the chance it didn’t get smarter—I am pegging the “fed up with dumbshits” meter already!
The headline was “Ten Ways to Green Your Road trip” and I only got as far as number one. Number one was that because gas is hitting over $4 a gallon, you should plan to make your “road trip” by train or plane instead of in the car on this holiday weekend.
Dipshits.
(1) Trains and planes still use fuel. Lots of it, and some of it dirtier than gas.
(2) Did you ever try to get reservations on EITHER a train or plane on this short notice, much less on a busy holiday weekend?
(3) Let me say this slowly…roooad trrrrip. ROAD. There is a humongous difference—my son and I DROVE on ROADS to Mexico last December. We stopped in a collection of wonderful places that neither trains nor planes would have allowed. We could eat when hungry and not over-priced, stale CRAP, either. Part of the point of a road trip is the ROAD and all along the way.
(4)Our highest gas price then was $4.50 a gallon, our lowest was $2.88. Gas for the trip to the very border of Mexico south of Yuma cost about $400 round trip—you could not get ONE train or plane ticket for the same distance for that price, much less two. Even with gas higher, flying or training will be unlikely to save you money. Gas use does not go up too much whether there is one person in the car or five—-not true for ticket prices on trains and planes.
(5) Airlines now charge for baggage, American began this with a fee of $15 for the first checked bag and $25 for the second. So add that pile of stuff in the trunk up in those terms. The “green” being touted in the article MUST be talking about money!
Why do so many environmentalists assume it is something better when you don’t burn the fossil fuel yourself? It is better to say “Oh, look the plane is fueling up.”…really? This is like touting Japan’s wonderful reforestation projects, began back in the 1600s—-without noticing that their forests are beautifully untouched because they are STRIPPING Australia and parts of Canada and the United States of every stick of old growth they can purchase.
There is only ONE back yard, you dimwitted environmental article writers….its name is EARTH. Deferring a family’s use of fuel to the airlines is not greener and costs four, five, six times as much. If you want to be green this holiday weekend….STAY HOME. Plant a garden. Get rid of the grass. Build a swing set for the kids and throw out the video games. Stop buying water in plastic freaking bottles. Consider eating less meat from feedlots. Get real. Oh, and here is a thought….MEMORIALIZE someone, visit a local grave yard, plant flowers there, give a damn.
