Student Article High School Science Journal Author: Jolene Walter

Ponderings About Fuel Efficiency...

August 05, 2007

It’s interesting for me to sit back and look at the way my family lives when I’ve learned about all the environmental issues in this course. For example, in the utility bill lab we did a few weeks ago I learned that my household is fairly good at conserving gas and electricity. My parents have always been conscientious of this, reminding us to turn off lights when we leave a room and keep the front door closed when the heat is on. At night we keep our thermostat low because we’ve learned that not only does it conserve energy, but it helps our sinuses as well. But the main issue that has come to my mind is the system of transportation my household has developed, especially the way my sister and I get to school.

      Through my elementary and junior high school years, my younger sister and I attended school in the heart of Pacific Beach, though we have lived in University City my whole life. My parents made two, sometimes four, trips into PB every weekday to transport us for school or other functions. We put lots of extra miles on our cars and lots of extra money toward fuel. When I began attending a high school that was only a mile away from my house, my parents were happy to force me into riding my bicycle every day. (I can hear you cheering, Mr. T.) I was miserable, and by sophomore year I finally persuaded my parents to alternate giving me rides. It got easier when my younger sister joined me in high school this year – my dad works at the hospital a few miles down Genesee, so he could drop us off on the way to work rather conveniently.

      But even if he didn’t work close by, I would still want rides to school. I know that the most fuel-efficient option would be for me to ride a bike or walk, but to be completely honest, neither is a sacrifice I’m willing to make. I’m sorry, but staying warm and un-sweaty in the mornings trumps environmental preservation, hands down. I can do my share of conserving resources, and the environmentalists can do more than their share if it makes them happy. There gets to be a point, I think, at which environmentalists simply differ in thinking from the rest of society. The rest of us may seem selfish and ignorant and inconsiderate, but it’s not that we have worse standards of living; it’s just that we have different ones.

      For example, I know that fuel is most efficient at speeds of 55 or 60 miles per hour, but rarely do I drive 55 mph on the freeway. Why? It’s not because I disregard the importance of fuel efficiency – of course I still want to keep my ozone layer and bank account intact! No, it’s because I have come to the conclusion that time efficiency is sometimes more important than fuel efficiency. I want to experience everything I can in a week or a day or an hour. I don’t want to spend more time on a bike or a bus or on foot than I do on fun things in life. Everyone is so worried about the non-renewable resources buried in the Middle East, but I’ve come to realize that time is the most non-renewable resource of all.

      Fuel efficiency has never been a major theme in my household. Of course, we are conscious of it in some ways. For example, when we buy cars, we make sure they are as fuel efficient as possible. The car we bought last week for me to drive gets 40 miles to the gallon on highways. But we don’t go out of our way to cut back on commuting. Yes, it’s true: my family’s main focus when it comes to transportation is convenience. Does this make us ignorant, atmosphere-destroying people? I don’t think so. Most simply, the fact that I’m not driving a seven-passenger suburban means that I am at least doing my share to keep fuel emissions down.

      Now, not all of this is my fault. Or my parents fault, or my community’s fault, for that matter. The government isn’t helping the fight against global warming very much when they create laws forcing teenagers to drive alone in five-passenger vehicles. I felt ridiculous last summer when Jessica and I both attended a volleyball camp up in Poway: every day that week we would get in separate cars, merge onto the I-15 together, drive behind each other for 30 to 40 minutes, then arrive at our destination together and do the same thing commuting home later. You could practically see the fuel emissions burning a hole in the clouds above. My friend Rachel’s parents realized the absurdity in this kind of situation and created a list of responsible friends their daughter was allowed to carpool with; I am attempting to persuade my parents to do the same. Unfortunately for the ozone layer, my parents follow all laws. Diligently. They still insist on making extra trips to transport my sister because they won’t allow me to do it. Of course I have explained to them what a waste of resources this is – something I understand more now after taking this class – but not many people can grasp the concept that the atmosphere is being depleted as we speak. Some people in the world just don’t want to admit that we can’t all drive gargantuan hummers and blast heat from our household furnaces 24 hours a day.

      I suppose you could just call it an inconvenient truth.

 
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