Nov 4, 08:58 PM by Kimberly | Environmentalism
Where do people get off?
I was following the Echelon county ride, and I stopped my car on a turn-off to take a picture of the view along the 33. There was a man and woman there taking their own pictures. I put my Mini in ‘park’ and hopped out to take a quick picture. As I am taking it, I hear ‘Turn off your engine.’ I am thinking What?? ‘No. I’m only going to be here a minute.’ ‘You are polluting!’ the man says back. ‘What?’ ‘You are polluting! Turn your engine off!’ I turned to him and said ‘You should think about how much you eat and what you buy. Think of all the energy of it takes and the pollution that makes. You are a hypocrite!’ (So there!) With that, I jumped back in my car.
This reminded me of an article in slate about Eco-Snobbery. This would have made some more sense, except I was driving my 30 or so MPG Mini, and he was driving a 20 or so MPG Dodge Magnum.
The only thing that made any sense out of it for me was that he had a foreign accent: Maybe he was on vacation from somewhere where they see all Americans as gas-guzzling war-mongers. And then I come along and I don’t turn off my car, and I am subjected to his hostility.
But I was wondering, is turning off your engine really more efficient? I always thought it was better to leave it on for short stops. Isn’t neutral kind of like coasting? It’s harder to come to a complete stop on a bike and start again than it is to coast. I would think getting the engine back up to speed would be harsh too. At some point it is more efficient to turn it off and turn it back on, but for how long of a stop?
<< I shouldn't have had that pizza last night
Where was this? What a bozo!
— bill at Nov 5, 10:29 AMBelieve it was on the 33, on the way to the summit.
— Steve Weixel at Nov 5, 11:17 AM