buter's BABY blog

I recently became the proud owner of a dinosaur. A bright blue, shiny four-wheeled dinosaur. It's a mode of transport that unashamedly uses non-renewable resources and contributes to greenhouse gases, blah blah blah, but it's also cute and enables me to get to and from work, appointments, or shopping centres fairly consistently. If I was to rely on public transport (another dinosaur, only slower) then I'd either never get anywhere, or if I did go places, I wouldn't carry anything. But the fact of the matter is, it's time for the internal combustion engine to evolve. Into something that's more efficient at converting even deader dinosaurs into propulsion. Or something that converts a less non-renewable resource. Or whatever.

Seeing as about 10 million* of the 4 million people who live in Sydney** own at least 1 car*** and drive it to work every day, it's not surprising that almost everyone you talk to about driving, complains about the high fuel prices at the moment. Something like $1.40/L is about the average this week. There are ads for those current affairs shows where they promise to "find Sydney's cheapest fuel" or "expose politicians worsening Sydney's fuel crisis" or whatever. But the fact of the matter is - oil is a global commodity. Developing nations rely on oil for all that development they are doing. Developed nations - which should know better - consistently don't bother to research alternative fuel sources, because as soon as prices drop, public awareness drops, and governments divert funds to whatever is higher on the political impact scale. A columnist recently said that higher prices at the petrol pump are actually a good thing - because they spur research into alternatives, for one thing. Why is this the first column saying "hey guys, think about the environment! If petrol's too expensive for you, catch the train!".

I don't get why people complain about petrol prices, and why do people expect the government to "fix it", and by "fixing it" do things like lowering fuel taxes, lowering or at least not raising, interest rates, lowering personal taxes, blah blah. Why not "fix it" by researching alternatives. Or making roads more suitable for public transport and much less suitable for personal cars. Or offering more alternatives to being "at work" (maybe improve broadband infrastructure so more people can telecompute for more time). Think outside the box? Or car?

I'd like to add more content here, but time's a wasting, so go read that column from SMH. Meanwhile, I'm a normal person. So until it's more uncomfortable for me to sit in my cosy blue dinosaur than not to, I'm going to carpark my way to work, shops and other places. With the other 9,999,999 car drivers in Sydney. Hang the expense.


* Didn't you read my post on statistics before?
** See note 1.
*** See note 2.