US Road crisis as commuters come out of recession

With reports suggesting that America's financial crisis is being solved, the road out of post-recession is causing problems of its own - on the roads themselves.

With more and more motorists returning to using their cars, traffic queues and jams are becoming the norm once again, and that's causing a whole lot of wastage according to a 2010 Urban Mobility Report.

It reports that Americans had to travel 4.8 billion hours more due to congestion and had to fill an extra 3.9 gallons of fuel at the rate of $115 billion.

That translates roughly to an average motorist spending a whopping extra 34 hours and $808 in traffic in 2009.

Of course some areas are worse than others - the worst affected were motorists in Washington DC and Chicago who spent an average of 70 hours in peak traffic losing $1738 and wasting 57 gallons of fuel.

The study claims that with more and more drivers taking to the roads, the emphasis has got to be on providing a better infrastructure including more public transport, tolls and mass commuting facilities.


One glimmer of hope was the finding that public transport networks like train and bus saved 785 million hours of wasted time spent in traffic. Clearly where the smart money was then.

Read the full report at Green Packs.

If you're interested, you can read how one commuter in Derbyshire, UK has found delight in various public transport ticket deals for his daily 40 mile commute - read more here

photo credit: nicholas whitaker

Back to School supplies quandary for one U.S. Parent.

One mum's quandary over the back to school supplies as reported by TreeHugger.com.

After 'saving' money last year by recycling part used stationery and finding 90% of what they needed was already in the house, one parent finds this years list a bit more specific.

In a land where students (and by that I mean parents) are required to 'donate' a ream of paper, a box of pencils, even emergency rations for the school's earthquake readiness plans, the article is full of humour and yet, contains a plea to be more environmentally aware from the very institutes best placed to shape the minds of tomorrows generation.

One figure I must quote from the article is this: 2 Billion is the estimated number of pencils used in the U.S. each year. That represents about 82,000 trees cut just for pencils. Each tree makes approximately 170,000 pencils.

Please enjoy reading the full piece at TreeHugger.com by clicking here.

photo credit: vinodvv aka vcube

General Electric CEO tells America the world won't wait for them

Under the headline "Going green can have a big payday", the Independent Mail reports on GE's CEO Jeffrey Immelt's speech at the Summit on Renewable Energy - South Carolina Job Opportunities in the Green Economy earlier this week.

As he discussed the renewable energy market creating 10 million jobs worldwide by 2015, he warned the United States that if it "wanted to be a player in those job-creation industries, it needs to move now because it already is falling behind in some areas".

He also warned that the initial cost of developing solar, wind, bio-mass fuel sources would rise short-term but said "if the development is done in the United States, then new technologies can be made and shipped overseas - that creates jobs".

During his key-note address, he warned "if we (United States) don't get off our butts and more aggressively seek renewable energy, the world is not going to wait on the United States".

You can read more of Jeffrey Immelt's speech as reported on Independent Mail's website - click here.

photo credit: dam

America see's petrol prices rise steeply

Spotted in Associated Press earlier:

"Gas is still a relative bargain compared with years past, but cheap fuel has been the good news story of a country racked by anxiety over making ends meet. Gas prices have now risen for six straight days.

After lingering below $2.50 for weeks, the national average price for a gallon of gas (petrol) crossed that barrier Friday and has been moving up since. Prices rose almost 2 cents to $2.564 per gallon overnight, according to auto club AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service.

Prices in Alaska and Hawaii are above $3."

The problem stems from refineries cutting back production whilst the Dollar has been falling steadily since the beginning of the month.

Read more on America's fuel price woes at Associated Press by clicking here. There's an interesting quote from an American Government report that reckons refiners production levels have fallen to those more common in the aftermath of a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico region.

photo credit: volpelino