Burning fossil fuels is certainly not an example of sustainability; our sources of oil are depleting and in the meantime we are causing severe damage to the environment. What do you think it would take to make Americans drive less? It could range from even higher gas prices to tax incentives; be creative!
Also, be sure to celebrate Earth Week; Earth Day is April 22. Be proactive and live sustainably!
(Go here if you're having trouble posting.)
Posting on this Question of the Week is now disabled.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Question of the Week: April 21
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
44 comments:
i think that we should have a certain amount of hours a week by law that you can drive
i think that we should have a law for driving things but i really think that they should get the hint of"gas prices" and slow down on the driving....and also we should start a walking fitness for everybody and maybe that might help...
my name is Brittany
i wrote under anonymous
There are so many ways. For example, hold contests for walking, jogging, and biking. Maybe give those who are driving less some money as a reward. As gas prices rise, we should walk more places. I understand that there are some times we need to drive, for this situation car pooling is a great idea. My brother goes to Nampa Christian and thats all the way across town. We have a car pool system going with some of our friends to save money. If you really think about it the less we drive, the more money we are saving. We are also expanding our life by walking. So there are so many reasons already that we shouldn't drive as much.
my real name is Brittany Glasgow
i don't think that there is really any way to make it so that we aren't burning fossil fuels; sure we could maybe use a little less but the only way to not use it would be to completely change our lifestyles and go back to living like they did in the 1800's which in all reality is never going to happen. We rely on getting places and doing things that require the burning of fossil fuels.
well the one thing that we could do to get people to stop driving, by putting gass prices up really high. That would work but it some people wont stop or they wont get the hint. The people that dont drive a lot are smarter then some are. The people that should drive are the ones that live far away from their job. its smart not to drive so much to save your gass.
Mindy
i thought tax isentives were a great idea. maybe we could deduct from peoples taxes the less they have driven but at the same time dont punish the people that do drive. it will give people a reason to ride a bike or walk.
sorry that last one was Jacob weber
What our society needs to do, is to advertise the cause of global warming. I think that would persuay people not to drive as much. I think it would be good to have a commercial that advertises walking instead of driving. It would show people how it could benefit their health and the environment.
dont raise gas prices!! thats ridiculous. theyre already out of reach and hate to break it to ya, but you just cant walk everywhere. think about what our winters are like, and then decide if youd rather trudge in a foot of snow to get everywhere or pay those jacked up prices. if we could make it easier to walk or ride bikes i think thatd be a biggie. there arent many bike paths around here, and we still live in a pretty rural state..places arent all that easy to get to. we need an easier access to a more convenient public transportation, which would really get people goin on carpooling. i think your best bet would be to get a shuttle, or do special benefits for carpoolers. like in cali, they have special lanes that you can go in only if you have a certain amount of people in your car..and those lanes have much less traffic so you can get there in almost half the time.
melissa schmidt
umm. I dont know i'm just doing this to get my credit.
But i guess keep the gas prices raisng cause we all know that the most enviromentally irresponsible people in cars are also the people who never seem to have money: teenagers, cause those crazy kids these days just cant get enough of piling mileage on their cars just for the sake of driving cause apparently is just so cool and fun to drive 35 miles an hour down twelth... hmm, driving is soo overrated.Anyways, teenagers never have money so jacking up the prices on gas would take the fun out of driving for teens everywhere.
Or maybe the driving age should go up, cause adults dont drive everywhere for the fun of it, its usually teens who just got their license. so raise the driving age! Muah ha ha ha!*cough cough* wait a second, That would suck SO BAD! nevermind!
Charla Tedeski
It would all depend on what stuff you do and what your job is. In rural areas there aren't many jobs so people have to drive farther to find jobs. If you are into competitive sports you have to drive to meridian and boise to find a good team and for tournaments you have to drive all over because idaho isnt a top recruiting state. So i think that we should bring more jobs and better sports tournaments to rural areas and possibly cut down on travel.
Terra Fisher
Honestly, I don't believe that there is any way the government can lower the driving rate in America. I mean think about it--there are huge campaigns against abortion, smoking, meth, weed, etc. People see all of the negative effects caused by these things, yet they still do them. Why? Because people don't care how their actions effect the world we live in. As long as they're ok now, they don't care. We live in a world of doubt. Only once people learn the hard way do they realize their mistakes. So basically, the world won't realize that we are literally destroying planet until it's destroyed.
Brianna Morrow
i dont think america will ever quit driving they can raise the gas prices more and more but people are still gonna pay it we need are cars to get us to work and to wher ever but yes we do need to quit burning so much fuel and america needs to figure that out before we go into an even bigger problem but personaly i dont belive in global warming first the earth goes threw its cycles of cooling and heating yes it has been raising alot more than what i usally does but we cant help that i belive we will probably wind up having another ice age somtime i cant say when it will come but im sure it will also you need to look bak onto the year and look at the amount the tempature has changed just over that period it dosent stay the same but the overall temp is going up but somtime it will go bak down
justin gullickson
for sure higher gas prices will make us think twice about when and where its nessessary to drive but i think cities should start to offer other means of transportation like buses or cable cars that help to get you where you need to go as oppossed to ones that kind of get you where you need to go
maybe if we carpooled a lot more the emisions would go down
I think we need a public transit system if we're talking about Nampa, because we simply don't live in walking distance of everything we need access to. Or even carpooling, walking to places you can walk to, or go buy a bike. I even think if we had enough kids walking/biking/etc. to school or around town, we could get some more bike paths put in so people could more safely commute.
-Miss Hannah "Former Camerawoman" Wilkett.
i think that they should ban certain cars (ones that use gas instead of energy) and then we wouldn't need gas, but since that won't happen i think we should all just borrow a horse from somebody and ride to work. We could also just walk or car pool or ride the bus or ride our bikes. i can understand why some people have a hard time doing this, such as living in the country. if your in town then get everything you need when your at the store, dont say it can wait cuz then you end up wasting more gas to drive back and get it.
Erin Canoy
so i decided to post a comment early this time that way u couldn't cut it off on my....GOSH :D
anywho...
i agree w/ the gas price thing. i think eventually they're going to get so high that nobodys going to want to drive anymore. which could be a bad thing. idk people won't be as social and go to other cities but then again i guess we'll just have a better small little community thing plus we'll save the earth so i guess its all good.
Couldn't agree more with Haylee. Yes burning fossils fuels is a problem but we rely on driving to get us to where we need to be. Some can't afford to drive, i can't afford to walk. Being on a busy schedule doesn't allow me to get where i need to be on time walking (and i'm not walking twenty miles to get to a training session)
Maybe if people were more aware of the issue, of how bad burning fossil fuels is becoming, they would change their habbits. It might not happen as fast as we like, but it would help to make progress... slowly.
-Kaeli
the towns like nampa and caldwell should have trolly that go around the city, plus no traffic<
People themselves who say that others need to be aware of gas really need to realize it also, not just say something about it.
If you make a statement, don't just say a sentence; DO SOMETHING.
I mean sure you can think about it, and gripe about it the net time you go to the pump and ring of 30 dollars for less than ten gallons of gas..
Why supply these companies with the staisfaction you should be granting yourself?
Show them that you don't have to depend on their oil to make things happen in life..people were probably happier without cars and everything possible to eat away at their earnings.
Government should stop adding lanes too, when cars full of families with small kids start getting into accidents maybe then they'll realize it!
Dani Lupton
make gas illegal... there... oh... and kill stupid people... start a hunting buissness... you can tag your friend.
-luke anderson
So people do drive alot but it would be hard to lower how much you really drive. We need to drive. I think that every one should determine where they can just walk to and not waste gas for some where in walking distance. Also driving some where randomly and just driving around because your bored won't help with that. The gas prices are also going up really high so soon people will stop driving as much so they can save money.
I know my family is. My mom tells me that we are trying to not drive so many places to save gas and money.
Also I think car pooling would really help. It would put less cars on the road, but fuller cars.
Teenagers love driving, I know I do but maybe they should have more rules about driving and only when they need to from their parents. Like to school and home.
Maybe more bus transportations would help too.
i think they should increase public transportation. and lower the prices to use it because not everyone has enough money to ride a bus or train everyday.
What if we all just drove electric cars, air cars, and even Smart Cars? The smart car uses less gasoline, the other 2 run on resources.
Driving is practically inevitable these days, and I don't think anything but higher gas prices and/or tax incentives is going to slow people down. And even those won't slow them down enough really.
But I think that instead of attacking the driving problem, they should come up with an alternative fuel so people can still drive but they're not polluting the environment as much. And our oil reserves would last longer.
Another option to consider is gradually switch to electric or smart cars, which are both awesome ideas!!
Tia A.
i think a subway system throughout all big city areas in the united states would be good. It would cost a ton of money but i think in the long run it could be a great way to limit car use
i think your should only be able have a certain amount gas put in your car each week, and once its gone.. you have to walk.
I think that everyone should just buy an electric car instead of buying a gas powered car.
I think america should switch from combustion engines to electric vehicles. What's so hard about that? They're more affordable, you don't need to pay for gas, don't need to pay money to replace car engine parts as much, because gas/diesel doesn't buildup. To charge the car doesn't add very much to your electric bill, and it doesn't create any pollution at all. (Watch 'Who Killed the Electric Car' for more info on electric vehicles)
And then, if somewhere is close by, instead of driving there, get some excercise by walking, running, or riding a bike.
-Jacob Haun
i agree with luke.
because
a: gas is already too high.
b: taxes are too high.
and c: luke's is at the top and i dont feel like reading the rest.
Car shops, dealerships, and manufactured companies should all band together to make a difference.. and reward their customers who drive only a certain hours each week.. to help the environment out...
Olivia Raass
honestly i think that lower the prices let them deplete the gases in our reach so there is none left! then no driving or higher prices and have a bike sale or something! have more accessable jobs in walking distance or have a bus that runs every hour everywhere! start electric cars just plug them in and go like a scooter!!!!!
i think people should drive however long they want to. i really think they should lower gas prices.
I think that the government could keep track of how many miles each person drives and then at the end of the month they could charge the people like half a cent for each mile or something
-Tony Agenbroad
Well honestly I don't think that there is any way that you can get Americans to drive less. I mean most of America is obese. They are not going to walk to work, grocery store, their kid's soccer games, and to school. Honestly.. I mean they're not. Gas prices are outrageous, I mean ya I have to cut back on the driving too, but I really don't think there is a way to stop it. The air compresser cars that are coming out are a good idea. It's very good for in town driving since it only goes 35 mph. Maybe getting more of those out and you are only allowed to drive those in town, and then when you have to go out of town far away, then drive a regular car. I really don't know. But come on, America is lazy. lol :]
Along the course of this discussion, many individuals have pointed out that you simply can't make Americans not drive. However, this is simply not true. What would it take? In growing cities such as Boise and others in the Treasure Valley, a mass transit system would greatly reduce the number of cars on the road. In New York City, 70% of individuals, and in Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Francisco, 50% of individuals use their respective mass transit systems every day to go to work. If our state government were to install such a system here, it would most certainly be used. Now, no one is pretending that we will be able to eliminate cars completely, particularly in the near future. However, tax incentives could indeed make a difference in this case; we still need cars, so hybrids are an excellent option, but they are significantly more expensive. Tax credits, such as the up to $3000 found in the "Energy Tax Incentives Act of 2005," for individuals who buy hybrids, help reduce the financial burden. Negative thinking and statements that Americans as a whole are "too lazy," "will always need cars," or "just don't care," may or may not be true, but certainly don't contribute to a solution to driving less. Mass transit is a simple change that would solve other problems and be more cost-effective in the long run. Remember, changes start with one person. Petition your local government, talk to your friends, spread awareness: who knows what you could accomplish.
to be completly honest I think we should invent a car that runs off water and instead of having carbon minoxide come out the exhaust we should have oxygen. =] but if that won't happen then we should have like electical scooters and stuff that would help get us around faster then walkin but don't put harmful stuff into the enviornment. =]
<33
the comment above belongs to ALEX LONG. =] haha I forgot to put my name on it.
<33 alex
i agrre with alex if everyone had a water car then carbon would go way down.
Okay due to the fact that I was destroying the ozone layer while sleeping in a RV that got 7 miles to the gallon this is in fact very, very funny... well, for one thing we need better forms of public transportation, such as trains, trolley, buses even, in Boston the only people that walked lived in other states or didn't live in Boston. A lot of people RIDE BIKES. It was amazing I think we need to utilized bike sales in our school and start our generation bike and walking smart.
*Kacey Killingbeck
~Formally known as TehMaster
-The Admin's Sidekick (GO ME!!)
Post a Comment