Not long ago, I wrote a letter to my local newspaper about the household financial benefits of driving the speed limit (as opposed to speeding).  Unfortunately, the word limit for the newspaper’s letters to the editor forced me to focus only on the “drive the speed limit – save money” equation.  Obviously, there are also energy efficiency benefits (and therefore environmental benefits) that can be gained from driving the speed limit (or, if you’re like my former esteemed boss, Dr. Ed Dalton, driving below the speed limit!).  Anyway, I thought it would be fun to share my letter to the editor as this week’s blog installment.  Here goes . . .

“Driving into Salt Lake City this morning, I decided to try an experiment.  I decided to drive right at the posted speed limit the whole way in (imagine that!) and count both how often I passed other cars and how often I got passed.  Between Exit 99 and the Redwood Road Overpass [a distance of approximately 22 miles], I was passed 36 times, while my little Corolla passed one semi, one UTA bus, and one guy fixing a flat.

Now, lest you perceive this letter as a self-righteous diatribe, allow me to confess that I am just like many of you who set the cruise control between 80 and 83 until just before 5600 West, and then reset the cruise just a smidgen below 75 for the rest of freeway trip in.

So where am I going with this?  Are high gas prices killing you like they’re killing me?  I’m guessing the answer is yes.  So here’s a little friendly advice from a recovering speedaholic: If you’re averaging between 5 to 10 mph over the speed limit from Tooele to Salt Lake City, lowering your speed to the posted speed limit will likely save you between 5 and 8 gallons of gas a month, or at current gasoline prices between $17 and $28 a month, depending on the size and type of vehicle you’re driving.  And if my math is right, it’ll put about 6 minutes onto your commute roundtrip, or about 6 minutes per day less time to watch YouTube.  For more tips, visit www.fueleconomy.gov.”

As always, your comments are welcomed.  A few thoughts for your consideration:

If you’re a high school teacher, if you have students of driving age, and if you integrate energy into your instruction, do you see any opportunities for students to conduct this type of energy efficiency-related analysis or experiment?  It’s actually quite fun to do, and the result (I am now truly committed to driving the speed limit on the highway) is awesome!  As we say in our Think! Energy program, think!, talk! (like writing a letter to the editor), and take action! (like changing a bad energy habit).

There is other information at www.fueleconomy.gov that could give you ideas for learning activities.  One thing that I think would be fascinating would be to compare several different “commute to work” transportation alternatives in terms of gasoline usage and energy cost.  For example, you could compare public transportation (bus, subway, etc.), carpooling (2, 3, or more carpoolers), driving by yourself to work (speeding, driving the speed limit), telecommuting twice a week, and telecommuting four times a week.  The result would be a matrix of energy costs that would be quite interesting.  It would also be fascinating to create some type of carbon footprint measurement of the alternatives.

When it comes down to it, energy efficiency is all about personal responsibility.  So if we really want to do something about high energy costs, let’s individually Take Action!

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the connection between energy literacy and personal environmental responsibility.  The construct we use for our Think! Energy programs is: 1. Think! about energy; 2. Talk! about energy; and 3. Take Action! about our energy for the future.  The basic assumption in creating this sequence is that as we learn about energy and become sufficiently informed to dialogue about the various issues related to energy in an intelligent manner, this should lead to greater personal responsibility (Take Action!) in using energy wisely.

So does it really work?  Those who develop good energy literacy, an understanding of where it comes from, how we obtain it, how and why we use it, what the economic and environmental impacts are related to its use, and how we can more efficiently use and manage it, do they then translate that literacy into wise action?

One way to measure this would be to take a sampling of energy literate people and compare their overall efficient use of energy with a measurement of the efficient use of energy among random people in the general population (who I would postulate are typically very energy illiterate).

I believe that a well-designed scientific study would bear out our Think! Energy assumptions.  I also believe that a study such as this would help the energy industry in general more fully comprehend the value of and need for strengthening support of energy literacy efforts.  Any ideas on how to put such a study together are welcomed!

In the meantime, speaking of personal responsibility for wise energy use, I wanted to share a few student thoughts from our recent Energy by Design instructional poster competition, sponsored throughout most of northern Illinois by our corporate partner Nicor Gas.  First a couple of my favorite statements, just because they’re funny:

A second grade student from Plainfield, Illinois submitted this jewel:

• “My grandpa is a polluter because he has a big truck.  That is why I want to write and draw about cars.  If you have a little car you can go a lot more miles than a big S.U.V.”

Wonder how Grandpa feels about that statement.  Then there are these great words of wisdom from an eighth grader from Elwood, Illinois:

• “To save money unplug your electronic devices.  Who cares if your hair is curly? That is the way God likes it. So, let your straightener get hot, then unplug early, and you saved some money. Spend more time saving money, rather than your hair.”

What I really liked, though, was seeing student statements that put energy action in the first person – in other words, statements that say “I” need to take action, rather than “You” or even “We.”  My favorite of all the statements comes from a 7^th grade student from little Channahon, Illinois.  She says:

• “Conserving energy is important to me because I learned that by doing my part I can allow the many generations after me to enjoy and appreciate the many luxuries we take for granted every day.” (italics added)

To me, if we all had some version of this philosophy, instead of suggesting that it’s everybody else’s responsibility, we’d really be making some progress regarding our energy for the future.

It’s the Energy Wiseguy, here.  The question of the week:  Why would anyone want to pursue a career in energy?  Well, let’s look at this very tantalizing question.

            Last week, I had lunch with an up-and-coming recording artist – you know, one of those guys that lots of kids dream of becoming.  This kid (actually, he’s 23 years old) has real talent – a silky smooth, expressive tenor voice, spot-on pitch, and exceptional dancing ability and stage presence.  He’s good looking, loaded with talent, already has many years of high profile entertaining under his belt, and is a really nice guy to boot. 

And, unfortunately, there is an extremely good chance he won’t make it in the big leagues.  There are just way too few “big-time” opportunities for way too many aspiring, talented youngsters.  And if you don’t make it big in a field like this, it can be very difficult to make ends meet in a related career.

What about girls and guys with a different kind of talent?  Like, say, a talent for figuring out better ways to design and build things.  Or a talent for crunching significant numbers and working out solutions to inscrutable problems.  Or how about a talent for working with one’s hands, for fixing, repairing, and operating complex machinery. 

This reminds me of one of my favorite movies, “The Man from Snowy River.”  When Jim Craig, the chief protagonist in the story, lands a job at the Harrison Ranch, he is given a very rude welcome by a couple of the other ranch hands because he is “from the mountains.”  Jim quickly shows, however, what an asset he will be for the ranch because he is so talented at just about anything using his hands.  In one memorable scene, Jim is in the barn showing Mr. Harrison’s headstrong daughter Jessica (with whom a romance eventually blooms), how to tie a rather complicated but highly useful knot.  Jim, of course, makes it look easy, providing just the desired impression upon Jessica.  Meanwhile, the unwelcoming ranch hand Curly, watching in the shadows, is clumsily trying the knot himself.  As Jim and Jessica leave the barn, Jim chuckles at Curly’s futile, comical attempts to make the knot, and delivers the zinger, “I’ll be back to check on your work” as he strides off with Jessica (Curly had earlier used the exact same words to mock Jim).

The truth, according to this observer, is our country needs more Jim Craigs, either the variety that can work miracles with their hands, the variety that can work miracles with their minds, or the variety that can do both.  But where do we find them?  And when we do find them, how can we get them interested in the energy field?

Recently, I spoke to Dr. Kim McCarter at the University of Utah’s School of Mining Engineering.  He mentioned to me that every single one of the School’s recent mining engineer grads had immediately found work, and that the average starting salary was north of $60,000 a year.  Unlike in the field of recording, the field of mining engineering has too few candidates for too many open jobs.  And this problem (unless, of course, you’re a graduating mining engineer student in which case it’s not a problem at all) will only get worse because so many of the current mining engineers are nearing retirement.

So what do you think?  Why would anyone want to pursue a career in energy?  Why not?  Are any of your students interested?  Why or why not?  I’d love to hear from you.