No Driving or Gas Week
Screw the gas tax holiday, how about a driving holiday?
Make it a week. No driving except for emergencies (I am talking the hospital, late for work is not acceptable). No purchases of petroleum either. This is the real point.
Summer is best because people can line up their vacations with it and folks can bike or walk more easily.
It could be all wrapped up in the American flag as a patriotic thing to do as a duty to your country. In the not too distant future we will be asked to make some pretty hard core sacrifices and this is a good way to get things off on the right foot.
Make it a week. No driving except for emergencies (I am talking the hospital, late for work is not acceptable). No purchases of petroleum either. This is the real point.
Summer is best because people can line up their vacations with it and folks can bike or walk more easily.
It could be all wrapped up in the American flag as a patriotic thing to do as a duty to your country. In the not too distant future we will be asked to make some pretty hard core sacrifices and this is a good way to get things off on the right foot.
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I like this. And would require tremendous political courage. If it's done correctly and not mocked, and people actually got into the spirit and felt connected again to helping in the "War On Terror" and that the decisions they make matter, it could really line a lot of people up behind the leader here.
PS - Friedman wrote a piece around December of 2003 (I think) where he rightly observed that Bush squandered the largest amount of political capital of all time. He could have asked every kid in this country to do a science project on energy conservation or told every person to turn off the light when they leave a room, and people would have followed in lock-step. He blew it. He told us to shop at Disney World.
The post-9/11 spirit can be re-vamped with enough imagination and enthusiasm.
May 8, 2008 1:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
In many, many places in the country there's no way to get to work BUT to drive. But that said, it would be nice to set even a weekend, or yes a week, in which people compete good naturedly with each other about how LITTLE driving they can do. Bike to a friend's house, or walk the two miles to a restaurant. With the right leadership, it could be fun.
Make it a sign of patriotism--instead of a yellow flag magnet, try to go a week doing no more driving than commuting to work (extra points to carpoolers!) and emergency hospital runs.
May 8, 2008 1:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
Er... I meant a yellow ribbon OR flag magnet :-)
May 8, 2008 1:15 AM | Reply | Permalink