NNEMA

1/10/2007
NNEMALog
Fast Cars and Fat Fido.

This week several notable events were reported.
We now have a pill for our fat pets. Yes, we can continue to overfeed our pudgy little home-critters, and then give them a slimming pill.
That's right, no guilt now for corpulent canines. Of course, the side effects are loose stools, vomiting, and internal digestive problems. Small price to pay.
The poor and chronically hungry on this planet will surely cheer this astounding development.
Also in the news were the latest big happenings in the auto world. New models were trotted out, and highly touted were the virtues of our newest cars.
Higher performance, sleeker styling, better built, and oh, yes, one small mention of fuel economy. A very small mention.
But then, why should Detroit listen to our clamor for fuel efficient vehicles, their gas hogs are selling like crazy overseas.
The Chinese love opulent SUV's and surely the clever thinking on our automakers minds is to subvert their economy by conning them into consuming like America does. Consume, consume, bigger and bigger.
This ploy has certainly worked on us, and now we are the largest debtor country.
We fell for the hype, and hopefully the Chinese will, too.
And when they all also are in debt because of overconsumption, then, aha, a new age will begin.
Where will China look to then for cheap labor?
You got it, the U.S. of A.
Full circle, the jobs will come home like pigeons to roost.
Very clever these Capitalists, it seems they do have our welfare in mind after all....

An article in "BackHome" magazine, Nov/Dec 2006 talks about the energy required to move our cars. The sidebar on P. 29 tells us that the original Volkswagon Microbus came with a 25 HP engine. While this was enough to move it down the road at 60 MPH, the "needs" of American buyers dictated a more powerful, faster 45 HP engine. The author also talks about just how much power it takes to move a small car on our asphalt jungles.
A Honda Civic requires 1.7 HP to move at 20 MPH. At 60 MPH it goes up to 16 HP, and to rocket down the road at 80 takes 35 HP.
Also, you may note that to travel up a 7% grade at 60 requires only 25% more HP, or 20 HP total.
Doesn't seem like a lot of energy to get us from here to there.
Why then do our cars come with engines that develop hundreds of horsepower?
One can guess that the "needs" of American drivers dictate that we must be able to motivate from zero to 60 in under 7 seconds.
Because, by gosh, someone else may beat us to that next red light. Gotta be the first one there, otherwise we'll be stuck in 'traffic'.
Someone surely has made a study of how much of our lives are lost to sitting in traffic, and it's got to be horrific. Probably millions of lost man-hours sitting at red lights. Bucky Fuller once remarked that at any one time in America there are a million cars waiting at traffic lights.
So is the problem that our traffic flow sucks, or is it that our car craziness is to blame? Probably both.
Could it be that our 'needs' are really artificial?
Perhaps this quest for acceleration is boosted by clever advertisers, convincing us that we are incomplete and unworthy if we don't have the fastest car on the block?
As one car company boasted in their commercials, "You really can have it all..."(if you buy our car).
And if we don't have the latest, sleekest, sexiest car, then we're not with it, and we probably won't get laid.
They slyly intimate to us, that if we buy their car, we can have sex with the very most beautiful people, and they will love us eternally, regardless of our faults. And if we don't then we will be destined to a life of drudgery and dullness, scorned and shunned by all.
So remember, next time you're stuck in traffic, all you have to do to have a real life is buy their product, spend years paying it off, and then magically the roadways will be bereft of traffic, and you'll be the only one on the road, free to zoom around impossible mountain curves, and stop on a dime.

NNEMA is our feeble attempt to add a voice of sanity to our nutso world. We must raise the issue of the correlation between unnecessary acceleration and fossil fuel depletion. And regardless of our conservation efforts, remember, the Chinese are getting sucked into our consumptive habits. And we have a whole new country being acclimatized to bigger, better, faster, sleeker, and sexier.
Will an attitude change by Americans make a difference? Will the world still long to be like us if we embrace smaller, cleaner vehicles with truly better gas mileage? Will we suddenly become 'uncool', and not be the trendsetters for the planet?
Who cares?
If America suddenly advocated sanity, the world would surely see the wisdom in it.

So what can we do?
Make that next new car a fuel efficient one. Tell your local car dealers you don't care how sexy the car is, you want good mileage. Write a letter or email the American manufacturers, and insist on economy over aesthetics.
Start carpools in your neighborhoods, see if your neighbor needs anything at the store when you go.
Instead of making 20 trips a day around town, try to hit all those stops in one journey.
Instead of getting that car which goes from 0 to 60 in 7 seconds, buy a lesser powered (more economical) steed. And who cares if you're second or third in line at that stoplight?
Flip off a Humvee next time you see one. Gross consumption is unseemly.
Drive 55 whenever it's safe to do so. You'll save a bundle on gas, and significantly reduce your chance of death or injury in an accident.
And if you're a Reno NNEMA-ite, call and write to your city council, and insist that they fix our traffic flow.
Not next year, not the year after, but urge them to fix it now.
This will save us all bundles of money, allow better gas mileage, and probably cut down on road rage, monday morning heart attacks, and eventually make us a more civilized civilization.
Walk to that convenience store 3 blocks away when the weather's nice instead of driving.
Next time you fill up, check you tire pressure, and add air if they need it. This will get you better gas mileage.
Talk to your employer about saving fuel and money by incorporating a 4-day workweek. This is an immediate savings of 20% on gas and transportation costs.
And finally, send in your good ideas on how to conserve and be more sane.
End log.