City of Vancouver Looking for Green Ideas. Help Vote for Ecomodding!. - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

orange4boy · 10-02-2010, 07:07 AM

I posted an idea to ecomod existing fleet and individual vehicles:

Talk Green To Us - Share Your Ideas

Quote:

Electric vehicles replacing our existing fleet of cars is a long way off. The existing fleet needs to be addressed now so we can start reducing emissions immediately.

By educating drivers and modifying our existing vehicles we can cut fuel useage by up to 50%. Since joining the Ecomodder forum I have increased my mileage by over 70% with a combination of driving techniques, aerodynamic changes and simple modifications. No dubious snake oil was used. I was getting 17mpg combined when I started, now I get 30+mpg. Instrumentation helps to show drivers how they are doing. Competition makes the whole process fun and addictive.

An example: In the UK the Energy Saving Trust has educational driver programs for individuals, businesses and institutions.

Help get it up in the rankings!

Christ · 10-02-2010, 12:53 PM

Seems like Canadia is kicking the US's ass in terms of green legislature and actually "gettin' it done".

Well, that's not bad on Canadia, but it's not good on us, either.

redyaris · 10-03-2010, 12:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Christ

Seems like Canadia is kicking the US's ass in terms of green legislature and actually "gettin' it done".

Well, that's not bad on Canadia, but it's not good on us, either.

Speeking as a Canadian we have nothing to be proud of at the federal level and only one or two provinces out of Ten are doing anything. In Canada like in the US it is the lower levels of government that are doing something. There are municipal governments all over the world that are leading the way to a greener future.

look for a book called Carbon Busters, It discribes some interesting stuff.

Christ · 10-03-2010, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redyaris

Speeking as a Canadian we have nothing to be proud of at the federal level and only one or two provinces out of Ten are doing anything. In Canada like in the US it is the lower levels of government that are doing something. There are municipal governments all over the world that are leading the way to a greener future.

look for a book called Carbon Busters, It discribes some interesting stuff.

While I understand that, I also disagree with the thought that the Federal Gov't in any country should be responsible (or depended upon) for any of those legislatures.

You see, initiatives for each province (state in our case) will be different, because each area receives a different percentage of usable environmental energy.

Each province could receive a 10% tax break for using solar energy to offset their carbon use, but at the same time, each province would benefit differently due to their differing exposure to usable sunlight during each portion of the year.

Instead, I believe that we, as citizens of our respective countries, should depend less on legislature at ANY level, and more on ourselves for that proverbial "kick in the pants" to get moving on doing what we can to help.

There's a quote on another site I frequent - "Helmet laws were enacted to prevent injury to those brains without enough good sense to wear one anyway."

Replace "helmet laws" with your choice of words, and it still makes sense.

"Green laws were enacted to enforce an idea that people know they should do, but won't because they're lazy."

Ok, so it's a little different, but you see the point. Why should we depend on people so out of touch with reality stuffed in their marble offices with their redwood desks to make laws regarding what should be done, when we, those in touch with our own areas, could just as simply act on our own accord and "just do it".

ai_vin · 10-03-2010, 02:00 PM

"Green laws were enacted to enforce an idea that people know they should do, but won't because they're lazy."

I can understand people being lazy. What gets to me are the climate change denialists, those who expend a lot of their time and energy to stop the rest of us from doing anything major.

Christ · 10-03-2010, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ai_vin

"Green laws were enacted to enforce an idea that people know they should do, but won't because they're lazy."

I can understand people being lazy. What gets to me are the climate change denialists, those who expend a lot of their time and energy to stop the rest of us from doing anything major.

Those people wont' stop you from putting a windmill on your front lawn. They're mostly trying to stop the gov't from spending useless dollars financing another company offering to install it for you, at a seriously up-rated cost, then profiting from your (not you specifically) ignorance of the details, by charging you a leasing agreement fee to "own" the windmill they just installed.

Even though we all think Mosquitoes are annoying, useless bugs, they have a place in the world, just like the "idiots" trying to prevent green initiatives.

There will always be non-believers, and there will always be activists. I stay in the middle of the extremes, try to get information and details from both sides, and make up my own mind. I'm not always right, but it doesn't cost me anything in wealth or health that wouldn't have been cost either way.

orange4boy · 10-04-2010, 06:09 PM

Quote:

While I understand that, I also disagree with the thought that the Federal Gov't in any country should be responsible (or depended upon) for any of those legislatures.

I agree that we should all do our part without relying on government to tell us what to do but that's fine for an ideal world that we don't live in. The government has a role to play in shaping the way the country is run.

The problem with the attitude of "small government" is that the feds are legislating all kinds of pro business anti consumer laws. So, do you abandon the henhouse to the foxes? Corps don't why would you? I'll tell you why... because they want you to. There is a huge meme in our media that has been propagated that we should want less laws and less government interference in our lives. Fair enough in our private lives, I agree, but they use this argument to fight for less laws and regulation for business which is the reason for so much of the economic s**t that just hit the fan.

This is not a case of what's good for the goose is good for the gander...

Same with lower taxes. If low taxes for corps were so important for job creation and the economy then why are we in the hole we are in? Should't we be flooded with jobs and prosperity now after all the tax cuts? What we have is a huge deficit and a massive rescession while the rich get richer. Lower taxes for individuals on the lower rungs? Fantastic! I'm all for that. It puts more cash in your pocket to buy locally but a tax cut for big business means the can take that cash and spend it on their yachts, overseas investments, anything but helping here at home. Cutting taxes to big business puts you in the position of subsidising their operations because someone has to pay for schools, roads, infrastructure, and guess what? That will be you.

Look at corporate profit. How much of it stays in North America? Tax dollars, on the other hand, 100% of that is spent and stays here.

Christ · 10-04-2010, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orange4boy

Look at corporate profit. How much of it stays in North America? Tax dollars, on the other hand, 100% of that is spent and stays here.

Nah, tax dollars gained in the US don't always stay here. A large portion of them are sent overseas for "foreign aid" and the like, as well as satisfying debts that wouldn't exist if everyone who had their fingers in the pot, so to speak, hadn't been double-dipping. (Earmarking for profit, etc.)

redyaris · 10-09-2010, 11:05 AM

My view of the matter is that ideviduals, Governments, Corperations display the same range and types of behaviore. to single one of them out as better or worse is not reasonable nore can you find evidence to support it. You can find evidence of anything you want to from the criminal to the saintly. In democratic societies it is the indeviduals with the means who lobbie government and/or corporations to get what they want and in fact the same is true for almost all forms of government. The duty of the citizen is to be informed and involved. Very few of us are.

orange4boy · 10-09-2010, 05:44 PM

Well said. One can, of course, point out better or worse individual entities within those divisions and look to flaws in their structure that lead to poor outcomes. ie: Corporations granted freedom of speech as persons under the law. This, to me is one of the worst cases of jurist prudence I can think of.

Now totally off topic.