I've been so wrapped up with landfill (and actual work) today that I haven't had a chance to comment on the poor legislators and them having to trade in their SUVs.
Unless one or more of them plans to drive up the side of the landfill, why do any of them need an SUV anyway?
BOSTON — Sen. Steven A. Baddour reached his breaking point two weeks ago.
He couldn't bear the cost of filling the gas tank of his 2002 Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle, so he put in $30 here, $20 there and drove with the tank half full.
And when gas prices hit $4 a gallon, Baddour, who respresents Greater Newburyport, had had enough. He ditched the SUV he had just completed payments on and bought a secondhand but fuel-efficient 2005 Honda Accord. A lawmaker and lawyer, Baddour could no longer take the hit.
"I couldn't afford the gas," Baddour said.
I wonder what the people of Methuen think of him being described as representing "Greater Newburyport."
And what about Mike Costello, you might ask?
State Rep. Michael Costello, D-Newburyport, is locked into a lease on his SUV. He's planning to get rid of it and get something more fuel-efficient when his lease expires in February.
As chairman of a House committee, he's required to travel across the state, and he said he's seeing high gas bills pile up.
And just so people in Newbury don't feel left out:
Sen. Bruce E. Tarr, R-Gloucester, covers a district stretching from Gloucester all the way to Newbury, driving in a GMC Yukon truck. The Yukon, he says, is not as inefficient as you might think — he gets 20 miles to the gallon on the highway, and has the ability to manage fuel consumption. Still, he's feeling the effects of high gas prices...
Tarr, a leading Senate proponent of alternative fuel technology, said the current crisis over gas prices will spur interest in alternatives to fossil fuels. Tarr is pushing the Legislature to adopt tax incentives to create nonplant biofuels and for consumers to purchase hybrid automobiles, which run on gas and other less polluting fuels.
And he'll be doing it from behind the wheel of his Yukon. Is 20 mpg good?
Monday, June 2, 2008
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3 comments:
Is there no 'Public Transportation' or 'Car Pooling' available for these elected officals to (mis)use? Put them on a 'T' pass and we will see public transportation soar to new heights very quiclly too!
The posting and comment beat me to the punch, except was going to focus more on this paragraph.
Giving up the car entirely is not an option for North of Boston lawmakers, for while there are several commuter rail stops from Haverhill to Cape Ann, the train schedules are inconvenient and the tickets are hardly cheap.
Perhaps, as lawmakers, they could do something about the inconvenient schedules. Or, perhaps they could go even further and institute programs that encourage companies to permit telecommuting.
Experimental energies are fine, but what about right now?
Stop making sense.
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