On closing schools, parking buses and saving gas
Some mothers in Georgia upset about school closing
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
Let me start by giving a bit /salute to Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue's plan to close schools in his state for two days so the school buses can stay parked, the schools can stay closed, and the state can help save approximately 500,000 gallons for diesel fuel. Arkansas was also working on such a plan, and I believe it's the right thing to do, at the right time.
Thanks to our ever expanding consumption of fossil fuels, and also thanks to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, we have severely cut our ability to process fuel currently. Though President Bush again spoke on tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserves, our best solution would still be to cut consumption, and closing schools and keeping the buses parked is one way to save many gallons for fuel.
With that said, such plans only work if there is cooperation from the parents involved. And by cooperation, I mean parents making an effort to keep from consuming fuel themselves, which is not what happened with a few mothers that were highlighted on CNN a short while ago (watching while having lunch at a local eatery). A pair of parents decided to hold a "teach in" at the state government in Georgia because they were upset that children are paying the price for our ravenous consumption, and in order to protest, they decided that they'd hold their teachin in front of the politicians. On the one hand, they were quite actively involved in their children's education (a very good thing), but on the other hand, they just went and consumed fuel that they need not have used just because it bothered them that their children would miss a day of school.
Many of our children spend much more time in the classroom than many of us ever spent in schools when we were kids. Losing a day of school here and there is not that disruptive to the schooling of these kids. Yes, it may cause some unplanned flexing of schedules and teaching curriculum, but our kids continue to learn the basics, and that is what is important.
My wife has suggested (I don't think she's blogged on the point yet, but she has suggested it) that government in general, and businesses also should consider doing similar things to what GA is doing with their school systems - shut down a day a week, allow their workers to work longer hours and fewer days or similar solutions that would help conserve fuel and natural resources. It is something we seriously must consider. If we only used the approach over say the next 2 months, many people might find they actually enjoy having 3 day weekends, and 4 day work weeks that are just 2 hours longer per day once they are in the office. The amount of fuel we could save (somewhere between say 5 and 20% of what we normally consume) should be unbelievably high, and that might, just might help lead to lower fuel costs as the refiners build up stockpiles and as our consumption drops quite significantly.
Thanks to our ever expanding consumption of fossil fuels, and also thanks to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, we have severely cut our ability to process fuel currently. Though President Bush again spoke on tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserves, our best solution would still be to cut consumption, and closing schools and keeping the buses parked is one way to save many gallons for fuel.
With that said, such plans only work if there is cooperation from the parents involved. And by cooperation, I mean parents making an effort to keep from consuming fuel themselves, which is not what happened with a few mothers that were highlighted on CNN a short while ago (watching while having lunch at a local eatery). A pair of parents decided to hold a "teach in" at the state government in Georgia because they were upset that children are paying the price for our ravenous consumption, and in order to protest, they decided that they'd hold their teachin in front of the politicians. On the one hand, they were quite actively involved in their children's education (a very good thing), but on the other hand, they just went and consumed fuel that they need not have used just because it bothered them that their children would miss a day of school.
Many of our children spend much more time in the classroom than many of us ever spent in schools when we were kids. Losing a day of school here and there is not that disruptive to the schooling of these kids. Yes, it may cause some unplanned flexing of schedules and teaching curriculum, but our kids continue to learn the basics, and that is what is important.
My wife has suggested (I don't think she's blogged on the point yet, but she has suggested it) that government in general, and businesses also should consider doing similar things to what GA is doing with their school systems - shut down a day a week, allow their workers to work longer hours and fewer days or similar solutions that would help conserve fuel and natural resources. It is something we seriously must consider. If we only used the approach over say the next 2 months, many people might find they actually enjoy having 3 day weekends, and 4 day work weeks that are just 2 hours longer per day once they are in the office. The amount of fuel we could save (somewhere between say 5 and 20% of what we normally consume) should be unbelievably high, and that might, just might help lead to lower fuel costs as the refiners build up stockpiles and as our consumption drops quite significantly.