I’ve had cars on the brain for a couple of days because as you probably know, the next industry asking for a handout is the auto industry. GM, with a slick new, Obama-esque site, is threatening chaos will ensue if it’s allowed to go under and I’m finding it hard to feel sympathy. (For the record, I was also against the last bailout.)
Do I feel for the workers who are losing jobs and pensions? Yes, but even they could see this was coming. Do I feel bad for a company (and industry) that continued to build giant gas-guzzling SUVs when consumers demanded smaller, more fuel-efficient cars? Not so much.
I’m no economist, but if we could “space program” the auto industry Kennedy-style and get auto companies to start turning out more plug-in hybrids and some biodiesel-fueled cars within, say, a year (we have the technology, just maybe not the infrastructure) then maybe we’d be on to something. That commitment, along with a plan to retrain those laid-off workers to make greener, cleaner cars, might make me more inclined to have the government hand over some cheddar. But again, I’m not an economist, I’m just a hopeful person who likes to think big.
As I drove a car full of first graders to a field trip this morning, while listening to a program about the GM bailout on NPR (I am such a target market), I was thinking about ways I’ve tried to address driving less in my own family. We’ve driven old cars and new cars, had one car and now two cars, and there are ways we can do this better. I’d love to trade both cars for a plug-in hybrid or get rid of one and convert the other to biodiesel. It’s hard for me to look at any car now, new or used, without seeing a giant sea of dwindling oil.
As I was cruising along the freeway in the carpool lane, realized that I was in the midst of own private “automotive bailout,” with the emphasis being on moving away from having two cars to one that is much more energy efficient. I have to say that I liked city living for the fact that cars weren’t a necessity. Our budget also didn’t have to cover the insurance on two cars. Now that we are in the ‘burbs, we have two cars, a small fuel-efficient one, and a larger, older car that isn’t as fuel-efficient but is useful for hauling lots of kids and their gear around. Such is life in the suburbs. Everyone does their carpooling share.
When gas prices rose to over $4 a gallon this summer we did make some shifts in driving. We biked more, cut down on our weekend excursions and carpooled more. As green as I try to be, I could never give up a car completely. We like to take road trips and go to Costco three or four times a year and I hate biking in the rain. I know people manage without a car and do all those things — and kudos to you if you do — but I am not one of those people. Never will be.
So I’ll be watching this bailout closely while wrestling with ways to make changes in my own family, but in the meantime, I’d like to know: How have you changed your thinking about cars and driving? Have you given up cars completely? Are you walking or biking more? Taking public transportation? Have you traded in your Hummer for a Prius? How will you bail yourself out from your own auto dependence?