Transportation+Research


 * __General Background __**


 * Why People of Faith Are Concerned About Climate Change **

//Catholic Coalition on Climate Change //[] What are the moral implications of global climate change? Who is most impacted? What should the Catholic community do? The Catholic Coalition on Climate Change was launched in 2006 to help the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and the Catholic community address these issues. // DETAILS: // If you want to help reduce  [|global warming], let alone air pollution, one of the best things you can do is to get out of your car. Walk or ride a bicycle for short trips, or take public transportation for longer ones. Either way, you will significantly reduce the amount of pollution and [|greenhouse gas emissions] you generate each day. Transportation accounts for more than 30 percent of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions. According to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), public transportation in the United States saves approximately 1.4 billion gallons of gasoline and about 1.5 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. · **Energy independence **—According to Treehugger.com, if just one in 10 Americans used public transportation daily, U.S. reliance on foreign oil would decrease 40 percent. · **Safety **—Riding a bus is 79 times safer than riding in an automobile, and riding a train or subway is even safer. · **Health **—Studies have shown that people who use public transportation regularly tend to be healthier than people who don’t, because of the exercise they get walking to and from bus stops, subway stations and their homes and offices. · **Cost savings **<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">—According to an APTA study, families that use public transportation can reduce their household expenses by $6,200 annually, more than the average U.S. household spends on food every year. 3.  **<span style="color: #4f6228; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"> [|Change a Light Bulb]  ** 4.  **<span style="color: #4f6228; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"> [|Drive Less and Drive Smart]  ** 5.  **<span style="color: #4f6228; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Buy Energy-Efficient Products ** 6.  **<span style="color: #4f6228; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Use Less Hot Water ** 7.  **<span style="color: #4f6228; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Use the "Off" Switch ** 8.  **<span style="color: #4f6228; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"> [|Plant a Tree]  ** 9.  **<span style="color: #4f6228; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"> [|Get a Report Card from Your Utility Company]  ** 10.  **<span style="color: #4f6228; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Encourage Others to Conserve [] **
 * <span style="color: #4f6228; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">1. ****<span style="color: #4f6228; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Reduce, Reuse, Recycle **
 * <span style="color: #4f6228; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">2. ****<span style="color: #4f6228; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Use Less Heat and Air Conditioning **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, //Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence and the Common Good,// 2001, [] This statement examines global climate change through the lens of Catholic social teaching and concern for the common good. //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> DETAILS: //


 * __<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Specific Resources on Energy and Transportation __**


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Overview of Energy and Transportation **

//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Climate 2030: A National Blueprint for a Clean Energy Economy //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">– Union of Concerned Scientists [] This peer-reviewed study by the Union of Concerned Scientists shows. The study shows that combining energy and transportation policies with a strong limit or "cap" on emissions-set at 56 percent below 2005 levels by 2030-would save the average U.S. household $900 on electricity, heating, and transportation costs in 2030. In that same year, businesses would benefit from collective net energy savings DETAILS:

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY SOURCE

[|Geothermal energy is an unlimited resource.] <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Geothermal Energy is the most efficient, the most affordable, and 100% Earth friendly. It heats and cools homes, buildings and other structures by harnessing the energy from the Earth itself.


 * Transportation and Climate Change**

//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">EPA Transportation and Climate Page //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">[] Here you will find information on carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transportation sources, including information about transportation’s contribution to total GHG emissions, relevant EPA regulations, and what you can do to reduce your transportation emissions.

//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">DETAILS: //

//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Moving Michigan Beyond Oil: Fueling Our Transportation While Growing Jobs and Reducing Global Warming Pollution [] // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">This report, released by two of the state’s leading environmental organizations along with political and academic leaders, evaluates the contenders in the alternative fuels race and finds that the key policy action to establish Michigan’s leadership role in this emerging market is enactment of a “low-carbon fuel standard” (LCFS).

//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">DETAILS: //


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Energy Generation and Climate Change **

//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">America ////<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">'s Biggest Polluters: Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Power Plants in 2007 [] // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">This report examines CO2 emissions of America’s power plants. Power plants are the single largest source of U.S. carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the main pollutant that fuels global warming. Coal is the biggest culprit. Coal supplies just under half of America’s electricity – more than any other source – is the dirtiest of all fuels. America’s fleet of coal-fired power plants emitted more than 80 percent of CO2 pollution from U.S. power plants in 2007 and 36 percent of the total U.S. CO2 pollution, as well as disproportionate amounts of smog- and soot-forming pollutants, toxic mercury, and other toxic air pollutants. DETAILS: The United States relies heavily on

outdated technology and limited resources for most of its electricity needs. While the production of clean, renewable energy such as wind and solar power is growing, the vast majority of American electricity comes from burning fossil fuels—coal, oil, and natural gas—and from nuclear power.

Our long-time dependence on fossil fuels is a threat to our future. It wreaks havoc on our environment by polluting our air, land, and water; and it puts our entire economy at risk due to our reliance on imports from unfriendly parts of the world. Most importantly, it fuels global warming—the most profound environmental problem of our time, with ever growing impacts that will impose threats to our safety and immense financial cost on our society. Power plants are the single largest source of U.S. carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions, the main pollutant that fuels global warming.

The oldest power plants are dirty. Plants built before 1980 produced 73 percent of the total global warming pollution from power plants in 2007. These represent just less than half of all plants, indicating that the older half of plants produce the lion’s share of pollution. See Figure 4.

• The dirtiest power plants are old. Of plants that produced more than five million tons of CO 2 pollution in 2007, 83 percent were built before 1980. This subset of 129 plants, just 10 percent of all plants in operation—the oldest of the dirtiest— dominate both energy production and pollution, generating just less than half of our power plant electricity and producing half of the power plant CO 2 emissions in 2007. See Figure 5.

• Older means dirtier on average. For each year older a coal generator is on average, it created 0.001 more tons of CO 2 for each Megawatt-hour of electricity it produced in 2007. The relationship is slightly stronger for natural gas. See Figures 6 and 7.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Brief Overview of Basic Climate Science **

//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Climate Change 101: Science and Impacts // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">[] This report from the Pew Center on Global Climate Change provides an overview of the most up-to-date scientific evidence and also explains the causes and projected impacts of climate change.

DETAILS:

//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report (from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">[] The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is the leading body for the scientific assessment of climate change, established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to provide the world with a clear scientific view on the current state of climate change and its potential environmental and socio-economic consequences. This is the IPCC’s most recent report.

DETAILS:

RESEARCH ON TOP 10 WAYS TO WASTE GAS Andrea Finger (Source= [])


 * **Top 10 Lists** || See all Top 10 Lists ||

By Mac Demere, Contributor #|Email There are only two ways to get significantly better gas mileage with your current vehicle: Drive less and slow //way// down, neither of which you'll likely do until gas gets to about $8 a gallon. However, there are many easy ways to get //worse// mileage. You're probably already practicing many of them, perhaps not realizing you're stomping your carbon footprint by wasting fuel and polluting the environment.
 * Top 10 Ways To Waste Gas**

With tongue firmly in cheek, here are our top 10 favorite ways to waste gas and money while stomping our carbon footprint.


 * 1) **Stand on the gas!** There's little a carbon stomper enjoys more than blasting along at 90 mph — other than doing it in a Suburban while towing a big trailer. You can get about 5 mpg if you try. On the highways I travel, there's no shortage of huge SUVs and other vehicles travelling at or near that speed. My personal observation is that the average speed on the German autobahn is no faster than that on Interstate 40 in Tennessee or Interstate 85 in Georgia. The government says most cars get their best fuel mileage between about 40 and 60 mph. For a big SUV or pickup truck, those numbers drop 10 mph or more. Because air drag (wind resistance) increases with the square of speed, going a little bit faster really increases the impact of that carbon stomp. Learn more about the effect that speed has on fuel economy by reading "We Test the Tips."


 * 1) **Use E85 ethanol.** Ethanol significantly drops fuel mileage because alcohol contains less energy than gasoline. The EPA says you'll get about 7 mpg less with E85 (85 percent ethanol, 15 percent gasoline) than with 100 percent gas. In our own tests comparing E85 and gasoline, we observed similar gas-mileage differences. But that's not all. To grow corn to make ethanol, American farmers are plowing up native prairie grass that is the primary breeding ground for waterfowl. Simultaneously, Brazilians are burning down virgin rainforests to grow sugarcane for ethanol and soybeans for biodiesel. Also, some studies say it requires //more// fossil fuel energy to make ethanol than the alcohol contains. In addition, ethanol must be transported by truck or railroad rather than the traditional gasoline pipeline system. Oh, and it makes your food more expensive. Stomp!


 * 1) **Idle.** A car gets zero miles per gallon while it sits motionless with the engine running. You can make a Corolla get the same gas mileage as an 18-wheeler by sitting in the car with the air-conditioner running while waiting in an elementary-school pickup line. A main way hybrid-electric cars reduce fuel consumption is by switching off their engines while stopped in traffic. For modern, fuel-injected vehicles, the break-even point for turning off the engine and then restarting it right before traffic begins to flow may be as little as 10 seconds, even when considering extra wear on the starter motor, battery and other components. Expect honks and rude gestures from drivers behind you.


 * 1) **Enter the stoplight drags.** Establish your dominance by being the first to the next stoplight. It's a race: Don't let the rats win. By accelerating hard, you're burning much more gas than you would by gently gaining speed. And you get to waste even more while idling at the next stoplight until the slow-accelerating driver arrives. Often, the light turns green right as the slowpoke arrives. Then you really have to gas it to beat him to the next light. Get the facts on the effect that aggressive driving has on fuel economy by checking out "We Test the Tips Part II."


 * 1) **Cruise.** Driving around aimlessly is such a relaxing and enjoyable way to waste gas. Harley riders, snowmobilers and teenagers have this down to a science. Some cities still boast 1950s //American Graffiti//-style cruising where people circulate in an intentional traffic jam around a city square — doesn't that sound fun? Gas hogs love traffic jams and lots of idling.


 * 1) **Choose max-performance tires.** There's little like the thrill of blasting around a freeway transition ramp on super-grippy max-performance tires. However, sticky tires take more energy to move down the road than do most original equipment tires. Tire engineers call it rolling resistance, and ultra-high-performance tires almost always have a lot of it.


 * 1) **Never use cruise control.** A great way to burn extra fuel when driving down the interstate is to accelerate until you pull far past another car. Then slow down until that car passes you and gets a half-mile lead. Next, gas it until you're a quarter-mile in the lead. Repeat. Not only does this drop gas mileage, it'll make you one of the world's most aggravating people. There's more than one way to heat up the planet.


 * 1) **Use regular gas when your car calls for premium.** The Lexus College says using 87-octane fuel in its vehicles that require 91 octane will reduce fuel mileage by about 6 mpg. This is partially because the lower-octane fuel requires the engine to work harder to achieve the same performance. It's unclear whether this is true for all makes. Try it for yourself to find out which gets worse mileage.


 * 1) **Keep your trips short.** Engines don't operate at maximum efficiency until warmed up. So you'll burn more fuel if you drive two or three miles and then stop and let the car cool down before making another short trip. To make sure you burn the most gas, never drive first to your furthest destination and make your other stops on the way home. Best of all, drive all the way home after each errand and never even think about walking or riding a bike.

Here are some other things you can do to waste gas: Install a wing, roof rack, running boards, fender flares or brush guards. Be sure to keep that ski rack on all summer.
 * 1) **Ignore maintenance.** A clogged air filter does a wonderful job of wasting fuel, but it's nothing compared to a malfunctioning oxygen sensor. If the "check engine" light illuminates, a small piece of black tape will allow you to keep wasting gas without the annoying nagging. Out-of-spec suspension alignment will burn more fuel, as will adding heavier-weight oil like 10W-40 rather than the automaker-recommended 0W-20. Finally, make sure your tires are underinflated — this will not only burn excess amounts of oh-so-plentiful gasoline, it'll also prematurely wear out your tires and create deadly driving situations!

If your children or grandchildren are unappreciative jerks, carbon stomping is more entertaining than slot machines when you're trying to blow the inheritance they were just going to waste anyway on future global-warming-induced beach vacations in Greenland.


 * Recommended Reads:** We Test the Tips, We Test the Tips Part II, E85 vs. Gasoline Comparison Test and Edmunds Employees Put to the Tire Test.


 * //__YAY for an end to Global Climate Change!__//**

Transportation sources accounted for 29 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2006. Transportation is the fastest-growing source of GHGs in the U.S., accounting for 47 percent of the net increase in total U.S. emissions since 1990. Transportation is also the largest end-use source of CO2, which is the most prevalent greenhouse gas. These estimates of transportation GHGs do not include emissions from additional lifecycle processes, such as the extraction and refining of fuel and the manufacture of vehicles, which are also a significant source of domestic and international GHG emissions. One of the primary determinants of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emission from mobile sources is the amount of carbon in the fuel. Carbon content varies, but typically we use average carbon content values to estimate CO 2 emissions.

All this info from from this file from IHM.