Walking And Bicycling

The DOT policy is to incorporate safe and convenient walking and bicycling facilities into transportation projects. Every transportation agency, including DOT, has the responsibility to improve conditions and opportunities for walking and bicycling and to integrate walking and bicycling into their transportation systems. Because of the numerous individual and community benefits that walking and bicycling provide -- including health, safety, environmental, transportation, and quality of life -- transportation agencies are encouraged to go beyond minimum
standards to provide safe and convenient facilities for these modes.

-- Secretary Ray LaHood, in the US Department of Transportation Policy Statement on Bicycle and Pedestrian Accommodation Regulations and Recommendations, 11 March 2010

2009 Mileage

For the year 2009, driving my 1999 Saturn which now has >217,000 miles, with past years' stats for comparison:

                  2009      2008      2007      2006    2009 delta  % delta
Total miles     : 27,307    24,346    25,847    25,111    +2957     +12.1%
Total cost      : $1,809.71 $2,188.79 $2,231.76 $1,942.72 -$379.08  -17.3%
Total gallons   : 793.73    686.27    812.14    776.47    +107.46   +15.6%
Avg gallons/day : 2.174     1.875     2.225     2.127     +0.299    +15.9%
Avg days/fillup : 4.9       5.3       4.7       4.9       -0.4      - 7.5%
Avg miles/day   : 74.81     66.52     70.81     68.80     +8.29     +12.4%
Avg cost/day    : $4.90     $5.92     $6.00     $5.27     -$1.02    -17.3%
Avg cost/gal    : $2.28     $3.14     $2.75     $2.50     -$0.86    -27.3%
Avg miles/gal   : 34.95     35.48     32.24     32.77     -0.53     - 1.5%

The stats are starting to look a little cramped. I'll hafta work on that.

MPG dropped by a fraction, but not by much; I can still claim my car gets 35mpg. The drop in cost for a gallon of gas surprises me -- cheapest year so far, despite the high miles. I ran up the most miles for a year, but not the most gallons of gas. Now I need to cut mileage to <25,000 again.

On All The Time

We have entered this new era where essentially everything is on all the time.

-- Alan Meier, an expert on energy efficiency, on the proliferation of gadgets in American homes, New York Times, 20 September 2009

2008 Mileage

For the year 2008, driving my 1999 Saturn which now has >189,000 miles, with past years' stats for comparison:

                  2008        2007        2006          2008 delta  % delta
Total miles     : 24,346      25,847      25,111          -1501     - 5.8%
Total cost      : $2,188.79   $2,231.76   $1,942.72       -$42.97   - 1.9%
Total gallons   : 686.27      812.14      776.47          -125.87   -15.4%
Avg gallons/day : 1.875       2.225       2.127           -0.350    -15.7%
Avg days/fillup : 5.3         4.7         4.9             +0.6      +12.7%
Avg miles/day   : 66.52       70.81       68.80           -4.29     - 6.0%
Avg cost/day    : $5.92       $6.00       $5.27           -$0.08    - 1.3%
Avg cost/gal    : $3.14       $2.75       $2.50           +$0.39    +14.1%
Avg miles/gal   : 35.48       32.24       32.77           +3.24     +10.0%

Last year when comparing stats, I resigned myself to losing a chunk of mpg each year as the car ages. However, this year two changes came into play: first, in March I replaced my clutch, and mpg appeared to immediately jump about 5%. Second, the price of gas became ridiculous; I replaced my already fairly sedate driving habits with new ones, and mpg again appeared to immediately jump about 5%.

LHC Day 1

Don't cross the streams.

-- Harold Ramis as Dr. Egon Spengler, Ghostbusters, 1984

--

You can think of each experiment as a giant digital camera with around 150 million pixels taking snapshots 600 million times a second.

-- CERN's Ian Bird, who leads the LHC Grid project, a network of 60,000 computers to analyze what happens when protons are hurled at each other

--

If you can read this, then the Large Hadron Collider did not create any earth-consuming black holes today.

Borrowing To Buy To Burn

We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that has to change.

-- Former Vice President Al Gore, urging that the United States abandon the use of carbon-based fuels for electricity within 10 years, New York Times, 18 July 2008

Fryer Grease

Fryer grease has become gold. And just over a year ago, I had to pay someone to take it away.

-- Nick Damianidis, an owner of the Olympia Pizza and Pasta Restaurant in Arlington, Wash., on grease thefts, New York Times, 30 May 2008

Cheaper Oil

The greatest thing to come out of [the Iraq War] for the world economy, if you could put it that way, would be $20 a barrel for oil. That's bigger than any tax cut in the any country.

-- Rupert Murdoch, Guardian newspaper, 11 February 2003, when oil sold for $34.53 per barrel (it's $134.31 today)

Ethanol Gold Rush

This is a bit like a gold rush. There are unintended consequences of this euphoria to expand ethanol production at this pace that people are not considering.

-- Warren R. Staley, chief executive of Cargill, the multinational agricultural company, New York Times, 25 June 2006

2007 Mileage

For the year 2007, driving my 1999 Saturn which now has >165,000 miles, with last year's stats for comparison:

                  2007              2006            Change
Total miles     : 25,847            25,111          +736
Total cost      : $2,231.76         $1,942.72       +$289.04
Total gallons   : 812.14            776.47          +35.67
Avg gallons/day : 2.225             2.127           +0.098
Avg days/fillup : 4.7               4.9             -0.2
Avg miles/day   : 70.81             68.80           +2.01
Avg cost/day    : $6.00             $5.27           +$0.73
Avg cost/gal    : $2.75             $2.50           +$0.25
Avg miles/gal   : 32.24             32.77           -0.53

Judicial Review

Climate change has ushered in a whole new era of judicial review.

-- Patrick Parenteau, environmental law professor, on an appeals court decision striking down Bush administration fuel economy standards as too lax, New York Times, 16 November 2007