I will give it to Grist’s Greenie Pig, Elisabeth Kwak-Hefferan, for at least giving non-fossil fueled travel a shot, and for challenging others to do the same
True, this method is not exactly swift if your destination is, say, Anchorage.* Within two miles, though? Food-fueled transportation — a.k.a. walking, biking, hopscotching, what have you — can be just as efficient (and when parking is involved, often faster) as hopping in the car. And when you consider that 40 percent of all automobile trips occur within a two-mile radius of wherever we are, the so-called Two-Mile Challenge becomes a truly viable option for putting a cork in the carbon emissions spewing from the typical American lifestyle.
If you read through it, she tries, she really does. But, sometimes fails (why doesn’t she own a Volt?)
Then there are the times comfort comes into play, like when we ordered a pizza from our favorite local joint, 1.8 miles away and a pleasant stroll when it’s not raining bathtubs — which it proceeded to do 20 minutes before our scheduled pickup time. I considered our options: Bike there, and fold the pizza to fit into a backpack? Walk, and bring the pizza its own raincoat? (What’s that — an umbrella for the pizza? Don’t be ridiculous.) When it came down to it, we just didn’t feel like struggling through the cold downpour for 40 minutes, desperately trying to protect the cheesy goodness from going soggy. So we drove.
Yeah, that sucks. But, hey, Liz, if you’re going to sacrifice, it has to be a 100% effort (BTW, I wonder what the food miles are on that pizza?)
Know how many responded to her challenge? None. Warmists love talking, but few are willing to do.
