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Kim Gallagher has a plan for America's "blue highways," the thousands of miles of dusty, old, single-lane heritage routes that wend desolately through the countryside: turn them green. Superseded by high-speed interstates, many of these narrow byways have been long forgotten, along with the faded small towns they connect, says Gallagher, a project manager for the Southwest Michigan Planning Commission.
I'm all for revitalizing smaller towns and providing pleasant ways for people to bike or walk from town to town, but still can't get on board with the concept of calling this an example of a "green highway," at least not when it's being heavily promoted to drivers of electric cars. Yes, electric cars are more environmentally-friendly than regular cars, but they're not exactly using up no energy, either. I can see supporting this for the potential quality of life improvements for smaller communities, but from an environmental point of view I don't think it makes sense to encourage lots of drivers (even if they're driving electric cars) to go on long driving trips.
I guess what bothers me is that in society in general these days there's an increasing tendency to link being "green" with stuff you buy. Some choices are obviously far better than others, but you can't just buy yourself an electric car and think oh, it's okay if I drive all I want now, because it's electric! (or, in other situations, I can build myself a 4,000 square foot for my four person family, but we're eco-friendly because we used cork flooring and recycled material for the countertops).
I'm all for revitalizing smaller towns and providing pleasant ways for people to bike or walk from town to town, but still can't get on board with the concept of calling this an example of a "green highway," at least not when it's being heavily promoted to drivers of electric cars. Yes, electric cars are more environmentally-friendly than regular cars, but they're not exactly using up no energy, either. I can see supporting this for the potential quality of life improvements for smaller communities, but from an environmental point of view I don't think it makes sense to encourage lots of drivers (even if they're driving electric cars) to go on long driving trips.
I guess what bothers me is that in society in general these days there's an increasing tendency to link being "green" with stuff you buy. Some choices are obviously far better than others, but you can't just buy yourself an electric car and think oh, it's okay if I drive all I want now, because it's electric! (or, in other situations, I can build myself a 4,000 square foot for my four person family, but we're eco-friendly because we used cork flooring and recycled material for the countertops).
I disagree. I think more Americans need to go out and drive to appreciate what our country is more about. Too many are in a hurry to get from point A to point B. You don't appreciate our country much by flying over it. Perhaps more rail usage would be a good idea.
I go on long drives at least a couple of times a year. I appreciate seeing parts of America that I would never see otherwise.
As for all this environmental/green stuff, it's mostly just a marketing gimmick to make money off of people.
I disagree. I think more Americans need to go out and drive to appreciate what our country is more about. Too many are in a hurry to get from point A to point B. You don't appreciate our country much by flying over it. Perhaps more rail usage would be a good idea.
I go on long drives at least a couple of times a year. I appreciate seeing parts of America that I would never see otherwise.
As for all this environmental/green stuff, it's mostly just a marketing gimmick to make money off of people.
I agree, some of my most memorable drives have been when I took detours off the interstates and drove the scenic routes. I did this a couple years ago in West Virginia instead of driving the WV Turnpike and went the scenic byways, it was so neat as you'd be driving along and there'd be beautiful natural waterfalls on the side of the road, it took me about an hour extra, but I'd never have known that was there had I just taken the turnpike as usual.
Not to mention, at times, I'll use the "back-ways" just to avoid the heavy traffic that can occur on the interstates. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for the interstates that save massive amounts of time on long trips, but it can definitely be kind of cool to take the old 'US routes' and see some of the small towns off the beaten path from time to time!
But I wasn't arguing that this was a bad thing from all view points, and I agree that I've been on very pleasant drives off the interstate. I much prefer to travel that way. I hate interstates, and much, much prefer scenci routes and small towns. My argument was that by looking at this from an evironmental standpoint (and not a green marketing viewpoint), it doesn't make sense. Looking at as a "green" option versus looking at it as a way to revitalize small towns, encourage awareness of different parts of the country, etc., are different things.
But I wasn't arguing that this was a bad thing from all view points, and I agree that I've been on very pleasant drives off the interstate. I much prefer to travel that way. I hate interstates, and much, much prefer scenci routes and small towns. My argument was that by looking at this from an evironmental standpoint (and not a green marketing viewpoint), it doesn't make sense. Looking at as a "green" option versus looking at it as a way to revitalize small towns, encourage awareness of different parts of the country, etc., are different things.
Yeah.
Honestly, I wonder about the economy of driving off-Interstate. While it is true that driving 55 mph will almost always get you better mileage than driving 70 mph, I have to wonder if slowing down, repeatedly stopping and accelerating, then getting back up to highway speed doesn't cut seriously into your mileage.
My daughter has a Ford Focus wagon. She recently went to Minneapolis to see her brothers. All Interstate. All 70-75 mph. 32.5 mpg average. Needless to say, I was a little surprised. That's the best mileage we've ever gotten out of that car.
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