Re: Spiritual Vehicles (11/22)
A bunch of what-ifs
RE What would Jesus drive?: One thing about this campaign really disturbs me: If these people persuade auto makers to change their policies to accomodate their religious beliefs, isn't that imposing their religion on all car buyers? If the government starts setting fuel economy standards based on such religious arguments, isn't that a breech of the Wall of Separation Between Church and State? Where are all the stalwart defenders of religous liberty? Could it be ... gasp ... that mixing religion and politics is only bad when the outcome is conservative?
Jay Johansen
Larry loves Jesus, and he's got a lighter
side
It's really sad that supposed Christians have so little faith in our Creator that they would worry about their future and future of the planet that He created. Jesus, himself, told us to not waste our time worrying about what we will wear, what we will eat, etc. It's in the lilies of the field allegory. God created the earth -- He is neither in the earth, nor is the earth to be worshiped (see Commandments 1 through 3). In Genesis He told us to name the animals and take dominion over the earth. How much plainer can it be for these charlatans? God will bring an end to this planet, as we know it, according to His time table -- not man's. By the way, I suggest that you read the Book of John in the new testament before He does end everything. I give that advice for your own good -- pay particular attention to John 14:6. Anyway, I see Jesus in a 250 or 2500 series truck for work. It would be in the HD class, a 4-door crew cab, with 4-wheel drive and a diesel. That way,! he could get into and out of muddy job sites and carry his tools and helpers. When not doing carpentry, I see him in a RV so that He could haul all of his DISCIPLES (not apostles -- they became apostles after he died and rose from the dead) and converse with them while on the go. He could also put the truck on a tow bar behind the RV, so some of the disciples could go into town and get provisions while He's busy at the well saving the soul of a Samaritan woman and her acquaintances. You'll also find that encounter in the Book of John, Chapter 4. As for saving the planet, George Carlin said it best when he said, "Ask the people at Pompei, or the Mexico City earthquake if they felt like they had any influence in saving the planet that day." Enjoyed your column as always.
Larry Newman
When there was only one set of energy footprints, that's
when I carried you.
"It's true that SUVs tend to get lower mileage and generate more emissions than other cars. But all cars and light trucks (including SUVs, pickups, and minivans) together account for only 1.5 percent of the world's man-made greenhouse gas emissions.
"Looking just at motor vehicles, research by University of Denver chemist Donald Stedman has shown that 5 percent to 10 percent of cars are responsible for about half of tailpipe emissions."
Apples & Oranges -- when you're talking about greenhouse gas emissions, you're talking about CO2--the production of which is a direct function of how many lbs of fuel are burned, regardless of how clean the car's engine is otherwise. The 5%-10% issue has to do with pollutants (carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, etc) which are produced by old, badly tuned cars (the kind blowing blue smoke). Replacing old clunkers won't do anything to reduce greenhouse emissions (even though it could help with smog).
A more significant problem with the 'What would Jesus drive?' campaign is that there are so many other choices that have as large an impact. What's the average occupancy of your vehicle? How many miles do you choose to live from where you work (or work from where you live)? How big is your house? How many people live in it? How energy efficient is it? Where do you set the thermostat? Do you travel to distant locations on vacation? And do you really NEED to -- after all, transatlantic flights, and cross-country car trips burn a lot of unnecessary fuel, don't they? And how much energy was required to transport that fillet of salmon from Chile? Would choosing a domestic fish be more energy conscious? Or do the domestic fisherman use more energy running their boats compared to energy efficient Chilean fish farms? Or *are* the fish farms really energy efficient? Where does that fish food come from anyway?
It all gets to be absurd because there are thousands of decisions, large and small, that people make all the time that effect their 'energy footprint'. But expecting people to try take the energy use into account when making all those decisions (given that they generally don't have the necessary information to do so--let alone the time to do all the calculating), is not a recipe for making society any more energy efficient. What's needed is for societal decisions about energy efficiency to be priced into all these decisions, so people won't have to try do all the calculating. If we determine that we need to reduce fossil fuel usage, we don't need WWJDrive campaigns (or CAFE laws)--what we need are carbon taxes to which people can adapt to in any number of ways (drive more fuel efficient vehicles AND/OR live closer to work AND/OR share rides AND/OR, etc).
Mark Weaver
Truck specs
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