When Growth Doesn't Work

Usually, when we talk about sustainability, we think of how we can keep doing things without hurting future generations. That's kinda its definition. It implies moving forward, smarter growth, doing more with less or with greener products, doesn't it? But sometimes it means just plain doing less. Do I need another pair of shoes, new car, bigger house (insert your next new thing here)? And sometimes it can mean doing less on a city wide scale.

I bring this up because I've been reading about the challenges for cities like Cleveland and Buffalo that have seen dramatic losses of population. What do you do when you're heyday was 100 years ago? How do you attract people to a city that has huge sections of neighborhoods vacant? What do you do when your city is shrinking? Some, like Buffalo, continue to hope that somehow people will start coming back if you just keep moving forward. Others, like Rochester (my hometown) have started to move people out of sparsely populated neighborhoods into areas with more people (and services) and convert the empty areas into parks, greenways and gardens.

The city right now that's getting the most attention, due to the great Superbowl commercial by Chrysler among other reasons, is Detroit. They've embarked on a massive program to clear out whole sections of the city no longer viable due to so few inhabitants and convert the land back to community gardens and farms, something the land was very good at before it was converted to urban use. Many critics argue that for-profits will benefit from these projects but nothing they've tried yet has been able to deal with that much land laying waste.

Will this and other experiments by cities turn the tide of urban decay in our Northeast? Only time will tell, but remember this, those old, dying cities up north, the steel and manufacturing towns like Gary, Buffalo and Detroit, are sitting on the only abundant source of fresh water in the entire country and when people in the south and southwest start to get thirsty in fifty years, those rust belt cities will start to look pretty attractive!

The Price of Gas

I've got this tee shirt that shows a guy blowing his brains out with a gasoline nozzle. That shirt gets a lot of attention, usually a thumbs up or a snarky remark about the damn gas companies, but I wonder if there isn't a bigger question here. We all know how tough it can be for many people (myself included) to endure $50 fill ups or $500 credit card bills each month. And I've been hearing from the news that higher gas prices can slow the recovery as people cut back other spending to pay for gas, not a good thing, I know.

But, and it's a big BUT, when gas went through the roof back in '08 several really good things happened as well and might be happening again even as I write this. People started making better decisions about the car they were about to buy. And Amtrak and the bus lines were all reporting record ridership. And air quality started to improve in many cities. And car companies rushed to redesign their big SUV's (just now hitting showrooms, getting much better mileage). Something happened that hadn't for a long time. People started to think about the cost of energy and how they used it. Sure it's a hardship when energy costs rise but we've been living with cheap gas for forty years (look it up if you don't believe me).

Here's what I would propose. Slowly raise the gas tax, maybe a penny every month, so that we would know that the next time we have to make a car purchase decision fuel would be a little more. Now you may not like this proposal much and I can't blame you but realize that in '08 and again this year because of Libya and all, every cent of the increase went either to the oil companies or the dictators who control the oil in their little fiefdoms. Not one cent of these increases went to the US Government to make road and bridge repairs or pay for mass transit. Not one cent. So if we raise the tax a little at a time that increase stays with us to fix our crumbling infrastructure or help keep bus fares down for people without cheap transportation.

Finally, remember this. The Federal gas tax has stayed at 18.4 cents since 1993! Not one cent of the rising cost of gas has stayed here to help pay for all the things that need to be done and we keep fighting wars over it. Maybe a change in our habits will keep a few Americans from dying overseas to protect our supply of cheap oil, no?

What Are We Talking About, Anyway?

Several people have asked me about my site because I started with two posts about cars. I like talking about cars but there are many other topics to address when it comes to sustainability. So for those not as familiar with the term I'll give a quick refresher. When we discuss sustainability we are usually talking about something that can or cannot continue. The recent debates about federal or state budgets are a case in point. Overspending catches up to you later and someone has to pay the bill. Whether it's about the environment or something else that can be depleted by overuse the outcome is the same. Using too much of something and not putting back or giving time to replenish can't continue.

In the case of money, we continue to borrow  and hope that our children will forgive us when the bill comes due. If talking about oil, we hope we can find more before we run out and hope that future generations will solve the damage to the environment or find substitutes. When we damage our environment we hope that our grandchildren will remember to use more sunscreen or find cheaper ways to desalinate ocean water.

In its broadest terms "Sustainability" means finding ways to meet our current needs without screwing our children out of their future. Whether it's money, energy or education you can't continue to make withdrawals without deposits somewhere down the line.

To Buy New or Not To Buy New, That Is The Question

As the price of gas rises you may think of replacing your old car with a higher mileage new car. Last post I talked about what it takes to get your money back if gas prices are your only criteria. Another important point concerns the impact a new car has on the environment. Think of what happens when you purchase a brand new car from a dealer. His inventory is depleted so he places an order for another car, the factory places orders for all the parts needed for production of another car, suppliers place orders with steel mills, plastic companies, glass manufacturers, etc. Mining, cutting, drilling, smelting all kick in to supply the world with another brand new car. Tire companies, electronic component manufacturers, leather suppliers all begin the process again to get that new car built.

Now, what happens when you buy a nice used car that has already had its impact on the earth accounted for. Not much. No one digs another hole, cuts another tree or kills another cow. They just go out and clean up another used car that's been waiting for a new home. No additional damage, no chain reaction, just a good home for a nice used car that's been waiting for you all the time.

As you pass the hundreds of used car lots on your way to work or school today, think of all the great, existing cars out there just waiting for you to give them a chance. You might even learn a little car repair on your own!

Saving gas with a smaller car?

So I was watching the local news tonight and they had a story of a guy that had just traded his Jeep Wrangler that gets about 15 mpg for a Prius that gets around 50! Sounds like he'll save some serious change, no? Well, using a site I really like from Edmunds http://www.edmunds.com/calculators/gas-guzzler.html I plugged in a brand new Prius and a 5 year old Jeep (my assumptions) and it shows that it will take him almost 8 years to realize a savings base on the price of gas at around $3.50. Granted, I'm making a few assumptions here but you can go to the site and plug some different cars and gas prices in yourself and see if you ever get a decent return on investment by trading a used car in for a new one based solely on the price of higher gas prices. In most cases you'd be better off keeping your old car tuned up and properly inflating your tires than by buying a new car.