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Good news, for once
Good news, America! With financial and climatological and moral and political catastrophes abounding, according to the latest reports, we have some happy news to share. John Tierney shares ten items you can take off your worry list, including:
#2: “Your car’s planet-destroying A/C.” Because: windows down = more drag.
#3: “Forbidden fruits from afar.” Because: “One study showed that apples shipped from New Zealand to Britain had a smaller carbon footprint than apples grown and sold in Britain.”
#8: “The Arctic’s missing ice.” Because: “So far, though, there’s more ice than at this time last summer [...]”
Read the other seven here. And this, in the Times! Commendations, my friends. Commendations!
Topic: WorldMagBlog
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back to top22 Comments to “Good news, for once”
“Mythbusters” disproved #2. You get better millage with A/C off and the window down.
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Other studies show A/C costing at most 1 mpg, windows open having no measurable impact on mileage. Stay comfortable and alert.
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#8,
There’s actually increasing ice in the South Pole…. and the ice packs always recede and come back every winter.
Hullaballoo…
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Other studies disprove bith Tierney and the Mythbusters: open windows don’t create a significant drag (significant drag meaning it costs more MPG than having the AC on) until 50-55MPH.
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Whew…..That’s all such a relief. Esp. #10. I can now enjoy my weekend.
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Re: #7: If the only deadly shark attack in the world last year was in the South Pacific, what killed the triathelete doctor here in San Diego? All the reports at the time said it was a shark.
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What we would do without Mythbusters? My husband wouldn’t have anything to watch on television . . .
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Since most of My driving is highway, I use the AC with the windows up. In town, I secure the AC and let the windows down.
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I use the manual a/c and just wear my tank top undershirt. Once I git where I’m going I can put on a better shirt or jacket.
Note: Single guys, make sure your a/c is always working! Married dudes, at least your wife needs a vehicle with running A/c.
If you are here in Louisiana you just better plan on having a/c and being indoors between 2pm and 4pm.
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#2 Ken: Stay comfortable and alert.
I’ll second that. When I drive on the highway (and sometimes in town) with open windows, I am more worn out and tired on arrival from the constant noise. I miss the old cars with a small wing window in front, so that you could open it and the window and not have as much of the extra noise. I do find that opening the rear windows on the sedan, and only the passenger front window allows me to drive comfortably in 75-80º weather at highway speeds. Of course, I will have to replace the ceiling liner sooner since it gets blown around so much more. I guess I’ll just keep the a/c on.
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Ken,
How much a/c affects your mileage depends on a lot of factors, inclduding climate. My first car was a 1980 AMC Concord, and I was living in Phoenix. My first fill-up I was shocked to get only 13 m.p.g. I then ran the car without air and got 20. Obviously I had to run air some of the time, but I put up with a lot of heat because I couldn’t afford that difference (that was when gas was less than a dollar a gallon, but I was making four dollars an hour and driving 11 miles to work).
These days I’m mpre likely to use air than open windows, but I keep the air low.
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Now that I know that I get better gas mileage with my windows up in the car and air conditioning on, I can close the windows to get even better gas mileage
Even though it has been a mild summer, the coolest in the lest 35 years or so.
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I drive a small car. The A/C broke years ago. We are growing our own fruit. We don’t use an ice maker.
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They will have to shoot me to get me to stop using my AC: at home or in the car.
I don’t like heat. It makes me feel sick. I often bless the person who invented AC.
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Random, you still have 4-55 A/C don’t you? You know, roll down the windows and drive 55mph.
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This is a wonderful Tierney rant against the moralistic nanny state of the liberals. Recently, I came across a delightful sign in German and English upon entering a Swiss restaurant: Thank you for Smoking.
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Maybe we should cut holes in the floorboard of the car so that we can paddle with our feet like Fred Flinstone. And maybe if all the passengers lean forward, we’ll get just a tiny bit more out of each tank of gas.
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Kyle A, It would work better if you only went to places that are downhill.
That makes more sense than turning food into fuel.
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I used to say AlGore was a fool, but now I realize AlGore is not a fool. He’s making a mint off people’s fear of global warming. He knows it’s a scam, but he can’t afford to say so, because he wouldn’t be able to rake in the $$ anymore. The real fools are the ones who pay attention to what he says.
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If Al Gore would turn off his house every blogger here could run A/C continuously and we would still have a smaller carbon footprint.
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If Obama would quit smoking again, we could close our windows.
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#15 Peter,
I do and I do. In Puget Sound, I survive well enough in that fashion and I appreciate it.
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