I have noticed a seemingly increasing unnecessary and wasteful act in the general public today. It is the increasing tendency to allow vehicles to idle for moments on end. A reason I can overlook an idling vehicle: A hot day where senior citizens with breathing problems are an issue or anyone else with one for that matter where excessive heat may exacerbate a breathing condition. OR, the opposite in cold weather conditions or emergencies like being stranded, where heat or cooling may be necessary for staying alive! After this I have to ask why I see–mostly young people on the kind of beautiful days where you would love to park under a tree, roll the windows down, read and enjoy a breeze–sealed up in a vehicle letting it run?
In a nation where we are destroying the environment for the sake of oil and gas energy which will be mostly used in an economy to produce excessive “STUFF” we simply do NOT need, the last thing we should be doing is something like this. Every little bit of energy wasted simple contributes to the total sum of energy used and wasted for no legitimate reason. Additionally, allowing engines to idle for moments and hours, simply contributes to the conditions that result in weather extremities from which we are trying to shelter ourselves to begin with!
I would have thought we would have already learned such environmental ABC’s and basics in the 70’s, but it seems we have all but forgotten, and need to be trained all over again. And, this kind of collective waste that adds up to be a lot does not stop here…two other most preventable forms of energy waste are the use of plastic shopping bags and littering! But, these are stories that need separate attention. Maybe in a future post.
Meanwhile, to those young people with NO health issues sitting in cars letting them idle for moments at a time, get off your rear ends and out of the car–and go for a walk! Don’t become a future drain on healthcare or the environment!
Posted by Angry Man In The Basement at 11:02 AM 2 comments: