krousdb
07-26-2006, 05:57 PM
Why Silicon Valley Should Dislike The Grand Prix. (http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/15120868.htm)
Mike Langberg - Mercury News - July 26, 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Racing_Prius_II.jpg
Racing Prius II - Illustration by Mercury News
Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats - the San Jose Grand Prius of 2007 is about to begin.
You'll notice some big changes from last year's San Jose Grand Prix.
Our course running through downtown streets now has a diamond lane reserved for high-mileage race cars.
The leader board will display fuel consumption for each competitor, not lap times.
And the Grand Prius trophy will go to the car with the best mileage in this thrilling clash of energy-efficient technologies.
Sigh.
The San Jose Grand Prius, of course, won't happen anytime soon.
Instead, tens of thousands of people will cram downtown at this weekend's San Jose Grand Prix to cheer noisy race cars burning fossil fuel at the appalling rate of two miles per gallon.
What are we thinking?
Our nation desperately needs to stop its endless binge drinking of oil, and motor vehicles account for 40 percent of the nation's oil consumption.
Crude oil is nearing $80 a barrel, double the price of two years ago, and gasoline may never again go below $3 a gallon.
Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency reported that fuel economy for all U.S. cars and light trucks stayed flat at 21 miles per gallon in the 2006 model year. That's 5 percent below the peak of 22 miles per gallon in 1987.
Selling tickets to the Grand Prix is like inviting dangerously overweight people to a hot-dog eating contest. The spectacle might be entertaining, but it hardly encourages dieting.
Certainly, making heroes out of race-car drivers and marketing the supposed glamour of auto racing doesn't make it easier to pry Americans out of SUVs and other gas guzzlers.
Before I get run over by outraged race fans, I should note San Jose Grand Prix cars run on methanol, not gasoline.
Methanol, also known as wood alcohol, can be distilled from renewable resources such as sugar cane. But the methanol used in the Grand Prix, according to race officials, is refined from natural gas, a non-renewable resource.
While methanol is less polluting than gasoline, burning any kind of fuel solely for the amusement of crowds runs counter to the huge effort Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and venture capitalists are putting into alternative energy.
There are other reasons to dislike the Grand Prix, including noise, the disruption to transportation in and around downtown, and the city of San Jose's questionable decision to pump $4 million of taxpayer money into the race.
But big-time sports have a way of turning otherwise rational civic leaders into pennant-waving pep squads. I include my own employer, the Mercury News, an official Grand Prix ''media partner.''
As regular readers of my column know, I bought a Toyota Prius gas-electric hybrid last month. Not to make a political statement, but to protect myself from soaring gas prices caused in large part by everyone else driving bigger cars than they need.
There's no way we can ban auto racing or gas guzzlers, at least not when the governor of California proudly drives a Hummer.
But it would be a step in the right direction if auto racing were put in the same category as other unsocial behavior such as smoking - not illegal, but not a habit in which participants take pride.
Mike Langberg - Mercury News - July 26, 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Racing_Prius_II.jpg
Racing Prius II - Illustration by Mercury News
Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats - the San Jose Grand Prius of 2007 is about to begin.
You'll notice some big changes from last year's San Jose Grand Prix.
Our course running through downtown streets now has a diamond lane reserved for high-mileage race cars.
The leader board will display fuel consumption for each competitor, not lap times.
And the Grand Prius trophy will go to the car with the best mileage in this thrilling clash of energy-efficient technologies.
Sigh.
The San Jose Grand Prius, of course, won't happen anytime soon.
Instead, tens of thousands of people will cram downtown at this weekend's San Jose Grand Prix to cheer noisy race cars burning fossil fuel at the appalling rate of two miles per gallon.
What are we thinking?
Our nation desperately needs to stop its endless binge drinking of oil, and motor vehicles account for 40 percent of the nation's oil consumption.
Crude oil is nearing $80 a barrel, double the price of two years ago, and gasoline may never again go below $3 a gallon.
Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency reported that fuel economy for all U.S. cars and light trucks stayed flat at 21 miles per gallon in the 2006 model year. That's 5 percent below the peak of 22 miles per gallon in 1987.
Selling tickets to the Grand Prix is like inviting dangerously overweight people to a hot-dog eating contest. The spectacle might be entertaining, but it hardly encourages dieting.
Certainly, making heroes out of race-car drivers and marketing the supposed glamour of auto racing doesn't make it easier to pry Americans out of SUVs and other gas guzzlers.
Before I get run over by outraged race fans, I should note San Jose Grand Prix cars run on methanol, not gasoline.
Methanol, also known as wood alcohol, can be distilled from renewable resources such as sugar cane. But the methanol used in the Grand Prix, according to race officials, is refined from natural gas, a non-renewable resource.
While methanol is less polluting than gasoline, burning any kind of fuel solely for the amusement of crowds runs counter to the huge effort Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and venture capitalists are putting into alternative energy.
There are other reasons to dislike the Grand Prix, including noise, the disruption to transportation in and around downtown, and the city of San Jose's questionable decision to pump $4 million of taxpayer money into the race.
But big-time sports have a way of turning otherwise rational civic leaders into pennant-waving pep squads. I include my own employer, the Mercury News, an official Grand Prix ''media partner.''
As regular readers of my column know, I bought a Toyota Prius gas-electric hybrid last month. Not to make a political statement, but to protect myself from soaring gas prices caused in large part by everyone else driving bigger cars than they need.
There's no way we can ban auto racing or gas guzzlers, at least not when the governor of California proudly drives a Hummer.
But it would be a step in the right direction if auto racing were put in the same category as other unsocial behavior such as smoking - not illegal, but not a habit in which participants take pride.