I think that the United States’ contribution to the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is our major climate forcing. Between our factories, power plants and car usage, the amount of CO2 we are responsible for is shameful. I see this in the city where I live and how I lead my life.
Cleveland has an underutilized public transportation system. Honestly, I only use it when I need to be sure I will not be drinking and driving from an event downtown. I have used the busses during Browns’ games and for St. Patrick’s Day. I don’t use it more because it isn’t as convenient as hopping into my car and driving, on my own time schedule, to the destination of my choice. Am I right? Am I wrong? Am I lazy? The answer might be yes to all three questions simultaneously, but my use of the system won’t be changing anytime soon.
I also don’t see many people using bikes or walking for their main form of transportation. I live very close to my job, yet I still drive. I blame it on my safety; my route to and from school could go through some questionable areas and I leave sometimes late at night. I blame it on my workload; I can’t carry my work home with me easily on a bike. I blame it on being out of shape; biking would get me into shape, I should look into it. I blame it on terrible and ever changing Cleveland weather; well, I can’t talk myself out of that one.
Do I understand that I’m contributing to the problem? Yes. Will I change my lifestyle? I wish I could say yes, but I doubt I actually will. I think this is the major problem. We all know we could be doing little things to help, but those things are inconvenient and take effort. I speak for myself only when I say I don’t want to be inconvenienced and I’m a bit too lazy to put in the effort.
Sorry, but I’m trying to stay honest.
No comments:
Post a Comment