little girl BIG VOICE

Wonder of wonders. Miracle of miracles. Today I bought gas for under $2.00/gal ($1.89 to be exact). I couldn’t believe it. If you asked me two months ago about the chances of ever seeing gasoline under $4.00/gal again, I would have said zero to none.

It got me wondering whether or not the sudden and shocking price drop will have an effect on
the corresponding fervor to develop greener automobiles/factories and stem the rising tide of carbon emissions. Have we broken the bonds of the Matrix or will $1.89/gal be our undoing?

It’s no secret that the United States is a fiscally driven culture. We like the “green movement” so long as the price is right. But most of us won’t to pay much extra on the front-end to participate in a movement that will save our collective back-end (ridiculously short-sighted, but true).

Example: When Hillary Clinton was on Wal Mart’s Board of Directors, she encouraged them to build greener stores. She reasoned that it would not only help the environment, but also save money in the long-run. The problem was that Wal Mart didn’t want to pay the 30% higher initial costs to build these environmentally friendly stores.

Today Wal Mart is jumping on the green band wagon. Why? Let’s be real–it’s not because Wal Mart’s leadership watched “An Inconvenient Truth” and had a major change of heart about how they run the company. It’s all about the Benjamins Baby.

Wal Mart is building green stores because rising fuel prices and increased social pressure are making it more financially prudent for them to do so. It doesn’t cost as much to build green these days and energy savings are making up for the extra front end costs at a much quicker rate. Additionally their leadership can promote the company as “green”, which could bring in customers that previously avoided its isles due to reservations about Wal Mart’s environmental vision (I’d also mention that its civil rights record hasn’t been the cleanest either, but let’s just save that for another day!).

Now Wal Mart is just an example, but the same is true for most Americans. In general, we want a Prius or some sort of Hybrid because gas prices sky rocketed. The fact that we’ll feel better about what we are doing for the environment is just an added bonus.

If I sound a bit cynical, I am. But I’m also optimistic. Why? One word: Starbucks.

Say what little girl?

Yeah, that’s right: Starbucks.

Think about it. We complain about paying $4.00 for a gallon of gasoline that will transport us, our kids, their friends and the dog for 15-20 miles. But $4.00 for a 16oz caramel macchiato that will give us a little buzz for a few hours? No problem.

It’s all about priorities. We’ll pay more for things that are more valuable to us.

And our priorities are changing when it comes to our transportation.

When priorities shift, we become more open-minded to alternate ideas and arguments. Hear me out. Let’s say gas prices go up again and you just can’t deal with the $70.00 hit you take each time you fill up your SUV. You look into a hybrid because of the financial savings. But while learning about the financial benefits, you also pick up on the environmental savings that come along with the package. A light bulb (hopefully an energy-saving florescent) goes off. What if there are other ways I can help the environment AND save money?

Sometimes it just takes getting a customer into the store to sell them on your product. And sometimes getting the customer into the store depends on a shift in reality.

Reality shift? Check.

Priority change? Semi-check.

I like to think that we’ve taken the red pill, awakened in a new consciousness and are now unable to go back to our blissful fossil-fuel ignorance. Would I bet my meager life-savings on this? Nope. After all, we are only human.

But if you’re ever in need of a reality check, here are a few triggers to remind you the folly of fossil fuels.

• At $4.89/gallon x 17 gallons, gas would cost you $83.13 per tank (1-2x/week) or $4233.76-$8645.52/year (YIKES!)
• Hurricane Katrina, and the world wide increase in major storm frequency and intensity, have been linked to rising global temperatures, which are due to a dramatic increase of carbon in the atmosphere, originating mostly from our automobiles and factories.
• 9/11 and other terrorist acts which originate from cells based in the Middle East are often inspired by those citizens feeling threatened by a strong U.S. presence in their neighborhood. A decreased dependency on oil will result in a decreased financial interest in a region that does not appreciate any sign of American strength (Israel being probably the only exception). One can reason that if people feel less threatened, they would feel less inclined to lash out against the source of the perceived threat.
• 66.3% of adults in America are moderately overweight or obese. THAT’S 2/3 OF THE POPULATION!!! It’s no surprise that we have one of the highest obesity rates in the world when we also have the highest number of cars per capita (0.77 cars per person) and very high incidence of driving in lieu of walking or biking (even if the distance is less than a mile). The math is really simple: Cut your time in the car and cut your weight/carbon emissions.

My advice: Put some of these key words on a sticky note and hang it on your dash board so that every time you turn the ignition you are reminded of why we need to continue our demands for cleaner, more efficient cars, better transportation alternatives (i.e. more walking and bike paths, bus and subway routes) and the individual prudence to take advantage of all. Because nobody wants to end up paying upwards of the average annual income (GNP) of Mexico ($10,090) to gas their car each year.