Tuesday, May 4, 2010

The first WHY NOT on my list

I've never really given a lot of thought to off shore drilling, either pro or con.
I've seen the rigs in the distance and thought, "hey they aren't so bad,"
Even after the oil spills from ships have come into the news, I had hoped that improved hulls and other technology would prevent more of them and so quietly accepted the transportation of oil from country to country on the big ships.

When I travel down to Southern California, I have passed some small oil fields, and thought that the strange pumpers were not  intrusive on nature.   Once in place they just rock back and forth.  What about the pipelines?  If there are ways for the wildlife to go over and under, well they don't mater either.

But with this spill, my feelings have changed.  The coastal ecology is very fragile and will be damaged for a long time.  It will come back if there are no further insults to in the future, but if we keep in drilling off shore, there is no guarantee it will not happen again and again.

So how does this all turn into a Why Not to going full time in an RV?  It has made me wonder how responsible driving around a huge gas or diesel motor home is.

But, I really want to see the country. Perhaps taking a long road trip in our Prius with a tent, or just staying at home, would be kinder to the environment.

Nah!  This house sucks a lot of energy too.  And those fulltimers who stay put in campgrounds for months at a time don't use as much power as I do.  The thing is that we want to travel for a couple of years.

This is a reasonable consideration.  Our pleasure, vs the good of the world.  Can our not going make a difference?


Daily countdown:
547  days, or 1 year, 5 months, 28 days to go.  

Exercise Goal:        
1000 miles on the treadmill     3 miles   today.    
Total walked = 107.5 miles   Plus pool time.
         Someday I will be hiking in National Parks!  (or not)

2 comments:

  1. I'm far from an expert on this topic, but much has been written in forums about the "carbon footprint" as fulltime RVers actually being considerably less than living in a sticks and bricks. But, it makes sense that it would take less energy to live in 400 square feet than it does to live in 2,000. If you travel 200 miles, for example, once a week, that's considerably less than the miles two drivers commuting 25 miles two and from work five days a week. Food for thought!

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  2. I think that it is great to consider this aspect of your potential move, Merikay. And, there are a lot of tools for you to compare energy costs available. I have to believe that going into this change with the attitude you have means you will be as sustainable as you can be (and are comfortable being), and that's great. If you felt like adding another list, you might calculate how much oil and oil-based products you use in the coming year and then aim to use less than that while on the road. You'd be reducing your demand and it sounds like that's what you are concerned about. (Driving is not the only impact on our oil-reliance - plastics are a huge contributor.)

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