Thinking about conserving energy

Robert R. Gregory
Published: March 31, 2008

Beginning in the 1950’s this nation embarked on the very ambitious interstate highway system which served to create suburbs, living communities situated miles from the work place, miles from shopping and made it possible for many Americans to own a plot of ground and a single family house 50 miles from their office.

Hindsight has confirmed that the energy future of the nation was mortgaged to facilitate the move to the suburbs, in what history must judge as a massive waste of precious resources.

Now we are faced with $4 per gallon gasoline with no cap in sight. Yet as a nation we appear not to be concerned. Though the situation is as grave as the oil embargo of the ‘70s, no one has declared an emergency. No one has suggested drastic measures. Alternate fuels, hybrid cars, mandatory increases in fleet-wide gas mileage (finally) are all measures that will have only a minimal impact on the overall problem. People, we are running out of oil and there is no feasible way to replace the 100 million or so vehicles now on the road. When are we going to take the problem seriously?

I have a proposal. First we must, as a nation, declare an emergency. We as a nation must begin to change our energy usage.  This is serious. The impact of what we do or don’t do today will impact our children and grandchildren. There is no time to waste.

Second, we must take a drastic step to conserve energy immediately. I suggest that the nation go to a four-day workweek, a sort of national flextime, immediately.  The notion of flextime is already in place. A lot of people, especially in this area, are able to work from home. A four-day workweek applied across the board should result in significant energy savings. I would suggest that the shortened week apply to schools, courts, everywhere possible. To be effective the four-day work week would be the rule, not the exception.

I am sure there will be objections and many valid reasons why the proposal is impractical. But, there needs to be a sense of urgency, a sense of national purpose.

There was a time that people all had the same work day hours.  Now we have flextime.

People work from home, from satellite work centers. This proposal is not as far fetched as it may seem.

ROBERT R. GREGORY

Manassas