Here in Wisconsin, we’ve had a particularly cold, snowy winter, so it comes as no surprise that a lot of people have been leaving their cars, trucks and SUVs idling to keep warm. But when is enough enough?

 

Honestly, it doesn’t matter if it’s 10 below out or a perfect 68 degrees: a lot of people will leave their car, truck or SUV idling while they run into the store for a pack of cigarettes, a Coke, a newspaper, whatever. How and why have Americans picked up this disgusting habit? Don’t people make the connection that leaving their Suburban idling at the curb while they buy stamps is a complete waste of gasoline (or diesel fuel)? Do they realize they’re getting exactly zero miles per gallon?

 

I don’t understand the disconnect. I’m sure they’re good people, and I’m sure at least 60 precent of them want our troops back safely from the Iraq oil fields, so why are they so wasteful with this increasingly scarce and expensive resource? Even if it’s below zero outside, do they really think their car interior is going to get cold in the three minutes it takes them to buy a pack of smokes? Are we really that soft? Are we really that lazy? Do we really care that little about the world around us?

This entry was posted on Friday, February 22nd, 2008 at 12:10 pm and is filed under Over the Barrel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.