I recently read a news story that stated Washington was lagging behind in its use of biofuels \u2013 the gas that has a certain percentage of oil made from plant-based materials.<\/p>\n
Three years ago, Gov. (and South County gal) Christine Gregoire signed into law a requirement that biofuels would account for 20 percent of state vehicle and ferry fuel consumption by June 2009. The latest figures show that state cars and boats fueled up with a paltry 3 percent. Holy Canola, that\u2019s a big difference.<\/p>\n
One of the main reasons?<\/p>\n
An issue to which we all can relate: the cost at the pump.<\/p>\n
While Gregoire hunkers with her administration to figure out a fix, I\u2019d like to impart how this issue mirrors another one, closer to home.<\/p>\n
How many of us can actually afford to go green?<\/p>\n
Realize you\u2019re reading the words of someone whose second-to-last car had the carbon footprint of Sasquatch.<\/p>\n
I drove a geriatric Toyota Camry that essentially changed its own oil. Fixing the leak would have cost more than selling the thing for scrap and replacing it with a skateboard.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m sure environmentalists would have been appalled, knowing I actually drove the thing, feeling little to no remorse about it. I couldn\u2019t afford anything else, and my offspring had this annoying habit of needing to be driven to school.<\/p>\n
But I really came to see the divergence in logic when I was at a social function with a group of people, obviously in a higher income bracket, who were amazed I didn\u2019t have the latest in an energy-efficient washer and dryer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t afford them,\u201d I said flatly, not even bothering to point out I was renting and my landlord would have died before squeezing out an extra dime for my laundry.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you\u2019ll save money in the long run, and it\u2019s the right thing to do,\u201d my friends intoned, as if this would fix the problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t afford them \u2013 right now,\u201d I answered back.<\/p>\n
They looked at me like I had lobsters coming out of my ears, and I could see the internal head-shaking in disgust. Apparently the hand-wringing over my ignorance was okay, but offering to help me pay for them wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
I went home and did another load without any attendant remorse. I was just grateful not to stink in public.<\/p>\n
Here in the Pacific Northwest, we have the luxury of worrying about the environment, and trying to do the right thing.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s admirable to express concern that not enough of us are recycling, planting trees, buying Priuses, and ensuring the homes we are building are constructed from Earth-friendly materials.<\/p>\n
But in the grand scheme of things, we\u2019re leaving out a bigger problem.<\/p>\n
A lot of us are not affluent. We\u2019re still trying to figure out how to pay for all that fat-free stuff that will help us live longer.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re still trying to figure out a way to afford that leading-edge healthcare for which the Pacific Northwest is renowned.<\/p>\n
Some of us are just happy to be able to pay our electricity bills, rather than fretting over getting solar power.<\/p>\n
In the grand scheme of things, what happens in Seattle is not going to make or break this planet. There are a lot bigger things to worry about than whether our neighbors have recycled their wine bottles or not.<\/p>\n
Take a look at China, where air-pollution standards are close to zero. Or South America, where vast acres of rainforest continue to fall to the axe. Or sub-Sarahan Africa, where desert continues to encroach arable land, which will lead to further food shortages and famine.<\/p>\n
If all we do is worry about Seattle, we\u2019re just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.<\/p>\n
And if we actually do want to worry about things on a local level, we should be trying to fix the economic disparities here in the Northwest. Only through affluence will people be able to do the things environmentalists so aggressively advocate.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s about taking your sites off of building a bike trail, and setting them instead on whether a person can actually afford a bike in the first place.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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