GUEST POST from Don – LOCAL Global Warming, II

How to stop “Global Warming” LOCALLY  (Part Two)

(See Part One for background.  This is a short list of changes which make sense whether “global warming” is real or not.  If done correctly they can save money or make life easier with fewer risks.  So … why not do them anyway!)  I have a longer list than I include here.

WHITE CARS and fewer trucks.

I am opposed to pushing agendas on others.  However, we can make choosing better vehicles for our needs easier with education and incentives.  Incentives don’t have to be large or burdensome for those giving them.  The first incentive is the knowledge that auto insurers give a discount for certain vehicles and certain colors.    Did you know, for instance, that a white Chevy sedan may cost less to insure than a black Chevy sedan?    

Choosing the correct car color is probably more important than choosing the correct engine (gas vs electric).  Two cars, same manufacturer, model and equipment.  One white and the other black.  Here’s what they didn’t tell you in school:  Black is beautiful but white saves the planet.  (I’m not talking about race relations.)

Did they tell you (according to Kelly Blue Book) that white cars are 12% less likely to be involved in a fender bender than black cars of the same make and model?  It may be that black car owners are more likely to be belligerent.  Or it could be that white cars are more visible in almost every weather condition.  In any case, a white car should get you an insurance discount and fewer days using a rental with a wobbly tire.  That knowledge might make me choose “white.”

Regarding local “warming” …  First, using A/C lowers fuel economy (even in an EV), so the vehicle which requires heavier A/C usage reduces fuel economy more (duh!).  That means more pollutants per mile in the atmosphere.  Guess which color vehicle uses A/C more … (I’ll wait while you think about it) …

Second, (now that you’ve thought about it), in direct sunlight black cars can absorb up to 17 degrees more heat.  They are hotter when you get in at the end of your jog.  It takes longer to cool down to a comfortable temperature, and takes more energy to maintain that temperature.

Third, just sitting there, black cars are adding more to global warming more than white cars.  Cities are looking for ways to reduce the heat.  Here’s one, shift to lighter cars.  It is a world-saving choice which costs NOTHING.   Instead of pushing EV on everyone, maybe the administration could promote fewer color options.

By the way, the same thing about color is true for shingles, too.  (Not that black ones have more accidents, but that light colors absorb fewer degrees in sunshine.)

BUY LOCALLY SOURCED

A community could do several things to “cease the noise” of global warming.  One is to limit package delivery services.  Reduce the days delivery services can deliver non-emergency products (like dog chews).  Deliver them on Mondays and Thursdays.  The delivery vehicles would not travel all over the county every day, creating unnecessary greenhouse gases.  Instead make deliveries more sustainable and more profitable by combining them.  Two trips vs six.  This could be huge.  

Alternately, have package delivery centers, which ends porch piracy in your community.  

Further, encourage locally grown produce, locally (or nearby) manufactured muffin pans or dolly wheels.  Take back a few items which are manufactured in far away countries.  It makes no sense at all to buy a lawn sprinkler from Outer Mongolia when it could be made just down the road.  You don’t have to move EVERYTHING, just something (only this something provides jobs, which is a plus).

PUSH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS

It is well known that under-educated people use a ton more community resources.  They also tend to have lower efficiency cars and housing.  If you really want to improve the climate, education is vital.  Sure, we have government-run educational programs … which mostly don’t work well. (Last year more than 22% of 19 year olds were functionally illiterate, which seems a bit high considering we pay over $15k per student per year for education.  Think about that for a moment … You just spent over a quarter of a million dollars to educate each of those 19 year olds and they still can’t function at a third grade level.  In my book that is FAILURE.)  What we need is a major improvement of the education of those in the lower elementary.  If they don’t learn the three Rs, they are more likely to become or remain poor.  Poverty raises community costs and adds to climate worries.  

FINALLY…DON’T FALL FOR STUPID STUFF

E-Scooters were touted as an economical means of reducing CO2 emissions.  Yah!  Not so much.  They are expensive to maintain and insure.  Studies show that at best they reduce emissions by less than 20 grams per mile used.  Do you know what 20 grams is compared to the amount of emissions needed to power your smart TV for an hour?  I didn’t think so!  Yup!  About the same.  Negligible, in other words.  

Rooftop Solar was being pushed for a long time.  The costs involved (they have to be insured and professionally maintained) includes hail damage and falling branches.  Net savings to the homeowner is below the threshold of usefulness.  Life span is roughly 20 years.  Break even is about 18 years when repairs and insurance are factored.  About the time they pay for themselves it is time to replace.  Almost no one recycles the parts.  On the other hand, in sunshine states which don’t get hurricanes they can be used over large parking areas to provide daytime shade AND power for nighttime lighting.  Doubly useful.

Carbon Offset Credits do nothing to reduce emissions.  Rather they are where industrialists “buy” permission to overproduce emissions.  Ban them.  Company A under-produces carbon emissions.  They sell their “extra” emissions credits to Company D which over-produces emissions.  Now D can claim their emissions are “within range.”  It’s fake environmentalism.

Plastic Recycling is a fraud.  Almost none is recycled even when collected in those ugly green bins.  Instead promote biodegradable or partially recyclable products.   But please stop wasting money picking up plastics with high-polluting trucks.

Choose things to do which SAVE money or time, and which make sense.

[PLEASE NOTE that Don is always open to discussing the thoughts and opinions he shares here and welcomes comments as shared in the comment section. He doesn’t use other social media platforms and won’t see whatever you’d like to share with him if you post it elsewhere.
ALSO, Don is always open to offer his thoughts on various topics. If you have a specific request, you can let him know in a comment; he reads – and replies to – them all. ~ Sherry]

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