Driving Us Crazy

I had to comment on this little gem from Corporate America.  It goes quite a long way into defining the misdirected focus on things that are killing the planet.  It is a story of an obviously retro company, Midas, desperately trying to keep the American dream of limitless driving alive by sponsoring a contest to give ten thousand dollars to the person with the longest commute.  The winner was David Givens of Mariposa, California who drives 372 miles every weekday commuting to his job at Cisco in San Jose.

Of course this contest does not mention that Mr. Givens might just be giving all of us an enormous amount of CO2 emissions (not to mention other pollutants) so he can enjoy his “outdoor lifestyle” where the air is fresh and a person can see forever.  For awhile at least.

Compare this to the recent Bicycle Friendly Communities campaign to award municipalities across the country for their efforts to create a bicycle friendly community.  As far as I can tell the communities receive recognition in the form of a platinum, gold, silver or bronze status award that is designated for two years.  Unfortunately, there is no money with this recognition to assist other municipalities implement the best ideas from the recognized communities.

I know!  I know!  No company that makes its money from the car culture is going to sponsor a bicycle friendly anything contest.  But if that is really the case, how do we transition to a sustainable culture?

The joke just might be on us!