Drive Beyond Oil

In the news

Here's our story from today's paper in Elyria. We're expecting a follow up tomorrow.

Fuel Economy Campaign to Park at Elyria City Hall
By Cindy Leise

ELYRIA - It's green, and it's rolling into town at noon today.

   The "Drive Beyond Oil" tour will stop in front of City Hall on Ely Square to encourage passers-by to call their congressional representatives to enact tougher fuel economy standards for America's cars and trucks.

   The organizers will walk around Ely Square in their "35 mpg or bust" T-shirts and hand people cell phones so they can call their congressional representative on the spot.

   "They don't even have to dial," said Rob Perks, director of the Natural Resources Defense Fund Action Fund and one of three road trippers.

   Lorain County is considered a key area because U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton, D-Copley, might be willing to raise fuel economy standards, Perks said.

   "Sutton hasn't stated her position yet - she's wide open," Perks said.

   U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, is considered a tougher sell, having supported a less aggressive approach to fuel economy standards that is favored by the U.S. auto industry.

   A vote is expected in the next several days on an energy bill that includes the new standards. Last month, the Senate passed a bill requiring the adoption of the 35 mph standard by 2020.

   If the 35 mpg standard goes into effect, the Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that Ohioans would save $1.4 billion a year in gas by 2020, or $3,600 a year per family, according to Perks.

   The tour spent time Monday in Youngstown in an attempt to sway U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Youngstown. Previously, the tour, which began last Tuesday, visited parts of Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania.

   Perks said there's one minor flaw in the effort - the group was unable to rent a hybrid manufactured by a U.S. carmaker for the trip.

   Instead, they are tooling around in a Toyota Highlander hybrid, which is getting 33 mph in its four-wheel drive version. Last year, the group averaged 41 mpg in a similar tour in a hybrid Ford Escape, but all attempts to rent another Escape this year were fruitless, he said.

Lovely Elyria

Elyria is a lovely name for a town -- and a fitting one. The town square in the heart of downtown looks too charming to be real. Like a Hollywood-inspired 'Pleasantville' or maybe the small town depicted in 'Back to the Future.'

Not only is the setting lovely, but so are the people. Here, like everywhere else on our trek, just about everyone we met not only thinks that making cars and trucks go farther on a gallon of gas is common-sense, but they were happy to phone in that message to Congress.

With a reporter and photographer from the Chronicle-Telegram in tow, we had great success with folks.

Take Barb, for example. She doesn't even drive but says her 'lady friend' takes her around town and the gas costs add up quickly.

Frank is a cook who used to work at a restaurant right off the town square. But his new job requires a 20-minute drive out of Elyria -- and he definitely notices gas prices a lot more now. Frank is a fit guy, who stopped to chat on his way to the local gym. On the phone, the message he sent to Rep. Betty Sutton was, "I'm a strong guy and I want strong fuel economy standards."

Louis was spending time in the park with his adorable grandson. A UAW member now retired from a nearby Ford plant, Lewis said, "You know I can't afford gas prices!"

A couple of ladies and a gentleman were concerned at first that we were promoting a 35 mile per hour standard. Once we cleared that up, they were more than happy to support the cause. One of them said she thought better fuel economy was already taken care of -- so it's about time Congress did something.

From couples with kids to retirees enjoying the pleasant day on park benches, everyone in Elyria enthusiatically embraced our message and -- even better -- took action by making their voices heard in Washington, D.C.

We had such a great time with folks in Elyria that it was hard to leave. But now it's on to Sandusky!

Live at 11

As we ping-pong across the state spreading our "35 mpg or Bust" message to the people, we take great pains to accomodate the press. Usually this means driving out of our way to get to the reporter's location -- always on his or her deadline -- to do a "meet-up" or sometimes a "drive-a-long".

Yesterday, for example, we traveled to Youngstown and parked outside a coffee shop downtown where we were told a camera crew from the local TV station would join us. After wolfing down delicious ham sandwiches at the Bean Counter, lo and behold the "Action News" van rolled to a stop out front. Out popped a lovely journalist and her burly camera man. We spent the next 15 minutes doing our thing in front of the camera -- which entailed patrolling the concrete near our hybrid and talking to complete strangers passing by on the sidewalk.

Unless you're asking for directions, chatting up strangers is never easy -- but it can be fun. That's especially true when someone listens to your pitch about fuel economy, gets it, and then agrees on the spot to make a phone call to their congressperson. Sometimes having a TV camera aimed at them can help, but it can also hurt. (See Scott's blog earlier today about fugitives from the law who treat media like celebrities do the paprazzi.)

But camera or no, we try to engage as many people on the street as possible, and so far our experiences have all been positive.

So, after the Youngstown "shoot" we hopped in the hybrid and sped off to the tiny town of Warren about an hour away. There we picked up a local newspaper reporter in front of his office and headed off to the only place in town where we could find a crowd. At the park there was a softball tournament underway, so this proved to be a veritable hot sport for civic engagement. Every time we got someone to call his or her congressperson, the reporter swooped in to interview the person and get their name. We haven't seen the story that resulted, but my guess is that today's issue will be a big seller since so many locals will be curious to see if they made it into the paper.

With Warren done we headed west to Akron, where once again we were told to set up our operation and then alert the local TV station. Instead of a crew this time, we got a lone camera man. No reporter showed up to interview us, and the camera guy didn't even ask us any questions. He just quietly filmed us talking to folks like we usually do. Seemed unusual, but no matter.

To our surprise, we found out later that the piece was being "packaged" for prime-time on the 11 o'clock news broadcast on NBC in Cleveland. That means the footage was paired with a voice-over by the TV anchor, who was usuing our press release to "report" on our trip.

Alas, even though we were all excited to watch the coverage last night, we were all too tired to stay up for the news. So if anyone in the Cleveland metropolitan area happened to catch the broadcast, let us know how it went. Better yet, keep an eye out for us as we hit the streets today in the western suburbs (and Toledo beyond) and offer up a minute of your time to talk about fuel economy. 

Unusual Suspects

Over the last six days, we’ve been talking to people in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Ohio about fuel economy and asking them to call their Congressperson to tell him or her to support the strongest fuel economy legislation possible.  Our message is getting through loud and clear, and people are strongly in support of what we’re doing.  I’ve been told “Thank you, you guys are doing a great thing” several times during this trip, and not once have I been told that raising fuel economy standards is a bad thing.  Going up to complete strangers in cities we’ve never before visited is challenging, though, and invariably results in a few surprises for us.

Yesterday, we were in Akron, Ohio asking people to call Reps. Betty Sutton and Tim Ryan.  I walked up to a man and asked him if he had a minute to talk about gas prices.  He saw the local news TV camera behind me and said, “Yeah, I’ll talk about gas prices, but I don’t want to be on TV or anything, because I have warrants out for my arrest.”  Lots of people we encountered today didn’t want to be on TV, but not all of them were as candid as this guy about why.  He proceeded to listen closely to what I had to say and asked for a website where he could get more information.  With a video camera from a local news station just a few feet away and warrants out for his arrest, I appreciated his willingness to listen to what I had to say.

I would have been more surprised encountering the man with warrants in Akron had I not had the following experience last week in Pennsylvania.  I walked into a coffee shop and started talking to the only guy in there at 8:45am on Thursday morning.  He was listening closely to what I was saying, though he seemed a little nervous and distracted, and all of a sudden he spilled his coffee all over the counter.  I thought to myself, “Great, the woman behind the counter thinks I’m harassing her customers.”  I helped him clean up his spill and then walked out the door of the coffee shop with him and asked him to call his member of Congress.  He said the following to me:  “I would, but I don’t think I pull a lot of weight in Congress, because I just got done serving 10 years in Federal prison for dealing drugs.  Give me the number and I’ll ask my mom and uncle to call.”  I said “Ah, ok,” and couldn’t manage to get much more out of my mouth than that. 

From Lordstown to Youngstown

It's 73 miles from Cleveland to Youngstown, a short trip in our trusty hybrid.
As I'm sure you're aware, hybrids are great for a variety of reasons - they sip fuel, pollute less, and are eerily quiet at times.

On the way to Youngstown, we passed Lordstown, OH, home of a large automotive manufacturing plant.  One of the vehicles built in Lordstown is the 34 mpg Chevy Cobalt. The Cobalt isn't a hybrid, but still gets good mileage.

An earlier post mentioned a National Academy of Sciences report from 2002 that concluded that we can get a 37 mpg average without hybrid technology. If the NAS says we can get 37 mpg without hybrids, why in the heck can't we get 35 mpg WITH hybrid technology?

The technology is here. All we need is a little leadership from Washington.

Cleveland Rocks!

Meet Jim, from Cleveland. He's on the job today, applying tar sealant between the cracks of the steps in front of the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame. Jim drove his Chevy pick-up to the job-site. The more he pays for gas, the less he takes home in his paycheck.

Jim's all about cars that go farther on a gallon of gas. He compliments my red t-shirt, with its "35 mpg or Bust" logo. I compliment his red t-shirt, and tell him that saving gas is patriotic.

When Jim learns that Congress has an historic opportunity to pass energy legislation that will ensure more fuel efficient cars and trucks, he jumps at the chance to make a call to his congressman. I overhear him tell the legislative staffer, "Tell my congress guy to vote for cars getting better mileage, and tell him lower gas prices wouldn't hurt either."

People like Jim have the power to persuade their elected officials to support policies that ease people's pain at the pump, reduce global warming pollution, and end America's oil addiction.

At the 35 mpg standard, drivers in Ohio would save an estimated $1.4 billion in gasoline per year by 2020. Families nationwide would save an average of $3,600 in gas over the lifetime of their vehicles.

Within a couple of minutes, Jim is hard at work again. Now it's time for Congress to get to work and deliver for Jim and everyone else. Our rally cry: 35 mpg or Bust!

Burn On, Big River

On Monday morning, we begin the second leg of our Drive Beyond Oil tour, blazing through Ohio to rally support for fuel economy legislation that will be on the floor of the House of Representatives this week.  Ohio is an appropriate place from which to project a rallying cry for better federal fuel economy legislation, as the state has lent its ills to similar efforts in the past.

38 years ago, on June 23, 1969, the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland caught on fire.  That's right, a river, with water (if you could call it that) in it, caught on fire.  Industrial waste, oil, and other pollution was blamed for the conflagration.  Academy Award winner Randy Newman even wrote a song about the Cuyahoga entitled Burn on, Big River (scroll down the page halfway...you can even listen to it). 

The fire department quickly contained the fire on that fateful June day, but the symbolism of a river in flames was profound and powerful.  The Cuyahoga River fire paved the way for one of the nation's premier environmental laws, the Clean Water Act, which was passed in 1972.  This legislation has helped countless rivers throughout the nation improve over the last 35 years, and we no longer have to worry about our nation's waterways catching fire.

The Cuyahoga River was the poster child for the Clean Water Act, and this week we're here to make the great state of Ohio the poster child for the strongest fuel economy legislation being offered, H. R. 1506.  Every state and citizen will benefit from this legislation, but Ohio in particular stands to gain a lot.  According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, the state could gain 10,500 jobs and Ohio citizens could save 1.4 billion dollars a year by 2020 at the gas pump.  The University of Michigan just released a study showing that Ford, GM, and Chrysler will benefit from the passage of the strongest fuel economy legislation, and with the auto industry's deep roots in Ohio, the state will reap these benefits in the form of jobs gained, or at least not lost, which is happening in Ohio and everywhere else right now as The Big Three lose market share to other firms.

I haven't heard of any songs written about how our cars burn too much gasoline, but if you know of one, please tell me.  In the meantime, the NRDC Action Fund Drive Beyond Oil team will be trekking through Ohio to generate more calls to Congress in support of raising fuel economy standards to 35 mpg by 2019.  When the Cuyahoga burned 38 years ago, our country finally realized that something had to be done about water pollution.  After 35 years of the Clean Water Act, our nation's rivers aren't perfect, but they're better.  If we raise fuel economy standards to 35 mpg, its a big step in the right direction, but it's only the beginning.  Our dependence on foreign oil and the threat of global warming are far more difficult challenges to address than the burning Cuyahoga, and it's going to take more than one piece of legislation to do the trick.  Raising fuel economy standards is arguably the best first step, though, and now is the time for Congress to act. 

A Video's Worth a Thousand Words

Our team has met a lot of people on this trip who share our goal of seeing that Americans get more for our gas dollars and reduce our oil dependence. Here’s a video of the team’s first day on the road and some of the folks they talked with.

Want to join these folks in telling Congress to raise fuel economy standards? Call the Congressional Switchboard at (202) 224-3121

Democracy at Work?

Week one of the Drive Beyond Oil Tour has come to an end, and we've learned a lot about America and how its citizens feel about fuel economy.  We've also done our best to spread the word about the importance of telling Congress to enact the strongest fuel economy legislation possible next week.  Throughout the tour, we've talked to dozens of people about how much they're paying for gas, how far their cars go on a gallon of gas, and what automakers SHOULD be doing to make all cars go farther on a gallon of gas.  The response has been uplifting and sobering at the same time.  Everybody we talk to wants fuel economy standards raised and they want it to happen now.  In a pure democracy, that should be enough to make it happen,  but the Drive Beyond Oil team is going into week two of our tour and in no way can we say for sure that Congress is going to act to raise fuel economy standards.  That's frustrating, but it's just more motivation to work even harder to get more people to call their Representative to tell them what needs to happen.

One benefit of raising fuel economy standards we haven't talked about yet is the reduction in global warming pollution that would result.  If we enact the strongest legislation, by 2018, we'll be spewing 285 million fewer tons of carbon dioxide into the air.  The average weight of vehicles in the US is about 4,000 pounds, or two tons.  According to the US Department of Energy, there were about 250 million vehicles in the United States in 2002.  If H. R. 1506 is enacted, we would eliminate carbon dioxide emissions equal to over half the weight of all vehicles in the United States, PER YEAR.  That won't stop global warming, but it's a huge step in the right direction. 

Next week, when your representative votes in favor of H.R. 1506, he or she will be saving American consumers $33 billion dollars at the pump, PER YEAR, reducing our dependence on foreign oil by 1.6 million barrels, PER DAY, and reducing global warming pollution emissions by 285 million tons, PER YEAR.  He or she will be creating jobs for thousands of Americans and saving each and every one of us money at the gas pump.  Your representative needs to be held accountable for his or her vote, because this is a vote that's going to affect every citizen in this country for generations.  Call them now and tell them to vote for the strongest fuel economy legislation possible.  If they do, call them next week and thank them.  If they don't, call them next week and tell them they voted wrong.  That's how democracy is supposed to work.

Johnstown, PA: The Inclined Plane

We spent Thursday afternoon at the Inclined Plane in Johnstown, PA.  For those who haven't been to Johnstown, the inclined plane is one of the city's chief landmarks.  It was built in the late 1800's to transport people up and down the mountain alongside downtown Johnstown.  The dirt road leading up the hill was difficult to maintain and often impassable, so engineers placed tracks and large cables up the mountain at a 35 degree angle to pull two modified rail cars up and down the mountain.  These rail cars initially carried both foot passengers and stagecoaches every five minutes, and eventually automobiles were added to the mix.  Today the Inclined Plane is less of a functional transport system and more of a novelty, but it has served the city well for decades and even saved Johnstown residents' lives during major floods by quickly evacuating them out of the valley.

The pictures we posted of the Inclined Plane pretty much speak for themselves.  But, you might ask, how does this all tie in to fuel economy?  We've been finding iconic places throughout Pennsylvania and Maryland to go to to talk to people about fuel economy, and the response is the same every time:  act NOW.  Today a woman with two young daughters and two large dogs took time out of her day to call Congressman Murtha and tell him to support the strongest fuel economy legislation possible.  It had just rained, her daughters wanted to go to the park, and her wet dogs were about ready to pull and her stroller down the street.  Still, she eagerly took the phone and let Congressman Murtha know what she thought about the upcoming energy legislation.  "I'm a mother with two young children," she said, and "I'm concerned about the environment and I think this legislation will help make the future safer for my children." 

116 years ago, the settlers of Johnstown, PA designed a system to pull two rail cars, each weighing 92 tons, up and down a 35 degree slope in order to facilitate the settlement and expansion of the city, using only a small steam engine to power their engineering masterpiece.  The Johnstown Historical Society describes the Inclined Plane as an "historic example of the ingenuity, imagination, skill, and enterprise of the people who once settled here."  Right now, we need to see more of that American can do spirit in efforts to make cars that go farther on a gallon of gas.  I know and all Americans know that the auto industry can do it.  For some reason, they haven't yet, and now it's time to ask Congress to enact legislation that will tell automakers to do what we all know they can.