Written by John Davis Frain

When I’m in Charge, Part II

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About a week ago (sorry, I’ve been busy with less important things) I admitted right here that I was no economist. Nor do I play one on TV. That didn’t stop me from putting forth an economic argument that cheap gas is bad for the human race in general even if it’s good for you in particular.

Lo and behold, someone who actually IS an economist wrote to further my argument.

Or refute it. Remember, I’m not an economist. Anyway, they cited a New York Times article – yeah, I’m name-dropping here; I might even mention the Washington Post if it garners more visibility – that stated sometimes it’s better for the environment to drive. Get this:

“If you walk 1.5 miles, [economist] Mr. Goodall calculates, and replace those calories bydairy cow drinking about a cup of milk, the greenhouse emissions connected with that milk (like methane from the dairy farm and carbon dioxide from the delivery truck) are just about equal to the emissions from a typical car making the same trip. And if there were two of you making the trip, then the car would definitely be the more planet-friendly way to go.”

So if you want to be green, and do it on the cheap while gas is so low, do what the New York Times tells you: Be a contrarian and drive!

5 thoughts on “When I’m in Charge, Part II”

  1. Okay…?

    Huh. I’m not sure which strikes me as funnier. The posts you wrote with your sideways sense of humor, or the economist taking this all so seriously.

    To drive, or not to drive, that is the question. However, the analysis of the car vs two people being more earth friendly made me sneeyort! I’m not discounting his facts. I’m just stupified at the ability to lay out those facts. When was THAT study done. And who said we’re all lactose intolerant anyway.

    I’ll be filing this into the area of things that make you go hmmm category.

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  2. I LOVE the things-that-make-you-go-hmmm category. I wonder if there’s a hashtag for that on Twitter? I’d be checking it daily.

    Even though you probably see something every day that makes you go hmmm, it’s hard to come up with something on the spur of the moment. I could probably drive about two blocks and watch somebody do something in their car that would make me go hmmm. Okay, I’m gonna try … hello, traffic!

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    1. You and me both!

      Oh the things I’ve seen in vehicles. One day I was going down I-40 and passed a guy eating Lo Mein with CHOP STICKS. Balanced the container of food on the steering wheel, and flipping it in fast as he could.

      Just a minute ago, I looked up from computer screen and see a guy walking by my house drinking a beer. At 11:00 in the morning. Yep, every day.

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      1. Donna, you crack me up. At first, I thought you meant you “looked up from your computer screen” while you were driving! Hey, I’m thinking, stop judging the guy eating Lo Mein with chop sticks if you’re surfing the web behind the wheel.

        Thankfully, it turned out you were safely in your home. Well, as safe as you can be while there are beer-swilling maniacs roaming around the neighborhood.

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      2. Just wanted to say I’m loving the new digs. This is a perfect representation of a crime fiction blog! (right on down to the mysterious banner pic(

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