A Few of My Favorite Things (Sort Of): 2 Kinds of Gas, BART and Being a Homeowner
Greenhouse gas, climate change and oil prices, oh my! I don’t know about you but these three things seem to be on my mind a lot these days. The U.S. has finally come to “consensus” with the rest of the world about climate change at the talks in Bali; everything from coral reefs to polar bears to really the whole planet is being threatened by greenhouse gases; and oil prices continue to climb with the peak oil crisis theory gaining more evidence. So I’ve been thinking about how these phenomena intersect in our everyday lives and what my role is. For me, as I guess for many, they all come together in transportation. The Oakland Tribune reports more folks than ever are riding BART, and as someone who rides BART everyday I must agree that it can be tricky to find an empty seat of late.
Back in 1997 when I moved back to the Bay Area after college, I didn’t have a car for two reasons: 1) I couldn’t afford it, and 2) I didn’t really need once since I lived in San Francisco and could get around well without one. Time wore on, I moved around the Bay Area and continued to ride my bike and take public transportation. However, I eventually got a job that required a car and have had several cars until now.
Fast forward 2006. With global warming hot on my mind, my partner and I decided to invest in a hybrid car. It seemed like a good idea at the time: we saved money on gas and felt it was doing something (even just a little bit) to lower carbon emissions. But shortly after buying the new hybrid last year, my partner and I decided to buy a house. So we chose to sell the hybrid to free up cash flow for mortgage payments (lucky for us it was at the point when they were still giving out the carpool lane stickers so we sold the car quickly).
Now that I’m a homeowner in the Bay Area, I feel as though I’m back to where I was ten years ago at the beginning of my career: cash-strapped and (semi) car-less (full disclosure: my partner has a car that we share on the weekends, so while I take the bus and BART to work during the week I’m not completely without my own transportation). But while I take public transportation to save on gas, car payments, and insurance I’m also trying to do my share to lessen my carbon footprint. Even if I could afford to buy my own car, my plan is not to buy one unless it can run on biodiesel or recycled vegetable oil. I’m doing my best to remain true to my commitment to reducing carbon emissions. And while public transport wasn’t a deciding factor on the home we bought, we are close to several bus stops and a BART station which helps me stay true to the cause.
How about you? How do you see gas prices and climate change affecting your living in the Bay Area? And if you’re looking for a home, is access to public transportation a factor for you?
Photo: 20th Century Fox, The Sound Of Music (1965) “A Few of Our Favorite Things”
