Originally Posted by
Roody
gz_
posted a link to a great article in the NY Times. I thought others would be interested so I'm posting it here. It's one of a series of articles about how people can reduce their carbon footprints. I haven't had time to read the other articles yet; maybe some of you will.
This one is about the externalities of driving--how other people pay some of the costs of driving, even if they drive very little themselves, or not at all. Obviously this will be of interest to most members of this subforum. The authors are STEPHEN J. DUBNER and STEVEN D. LEVITT, who wrote the book
Freakonomics, a bestselling book about pop economics that was famous for the chapter about why crack dealers live with their moms. I read the book and enjoyed it. I enjoyed this article too. I think it gives some legitimacy to claims that people have made on this forum.
Here's a
permalink to the article. I'll post the text in the first reply.
Read it if you're interested and let us know what you think.
Many insurance companies have been giving discounts of some sort if, for example, you don't drive your car to work. My current insurance company (I am thinking of switching to Progressive, though) offer a modest reduction if you drive less than 7500 miles per year. Over that, it's a free-for-all. I think one reason why insurance companies don't offer more of these types of low-usage deals is that they think there's no demand. That is, I suspect, about to change considering the price of gas. But you should remember than insurance is about the most conservative sector in US business. Don't expect to see any new carbon-free initiatives...
However, on the topic of links, I notice that the NY Times has a big section on reducing your carbon footprint called the
Green Issue These topics should be great fodder for discussion here.