All anybody talk about is electric cars and moving away from gasoline. And sure, that has great potential, but honestly I really don’t think we are ready. Have we considered what we will do with these giant batteries in the cars? How we will safely dispose of them while at the same time do it in an environmentally friendly way? And have we begun to train EMT’s on how to properly handle a car crash with an electric car that poses more danger than a normal car accident? The idea of electric cars is probably what is going to save our planet the most in the long run, however, just not yet.

In todays society people can often become confused with needs and wants. Because we are surrounded with different electronics such as ipods and computers and phones they can become a necessity in our life. some people think this is extrememly superficail and we must “unplug”. occasionally unplugging is a good thing. it allows us to step back and realize what is truely important. however, people must realize this new technology is important with where our society is headed. this new technology also includes todays main form of transportation, vehicles. cars and trucks allow us to get from one place to another, and yes we all know they arent good for out environment however like electronics they have become a main part of the succesful society that we have become.

My family takes many car trips during the year, us being the kind of people who like to explore the state we live in and it’s wonders and small towns. But while analyzing my carbon footprint I noticed my emissions for transportation to be high. This surprised me. I’m sure it was the fact that I took a plane ride during the summer that totaled about 2,000 miles. I figure that there are also may other people in the USA that travel a far distance to see relatives or new places by plane. Planes cause a large amount of carbon dioxide emissions though and are one of the most harmful types of transportation. Finding all of this out I was almost relieved that my family doesn’t take plane rides very often. I discovered also that trains can be a much more environmentally friendly form of transportation. And, as Sheldon Cooper might say, who DOESN’T like trains?

Greetings, everyone. I am Eric Shong, a 14-year old student from Dominican International School of Taiwan. I have noticed the sudden and huge rise of carbon emissions in the past 60 years, form 1950 to 2012. The global emission percentage has rises from 1400 million tons to a amazing 6500 million tons. Mainly because the increasing level of technology, such as the greatest contributor to carbon emissions - cars. The problem is, we simply can’t do anything about that. People travel, and for this reason they need cars. You could say that they could use public transportation, but public transportation may not always go to specific locations, and it will be tougher to travel around with a bus with luggages. Even though, we are left with another opportunity, reduce electric use. In most countries, electricity is produced by thermal power stations, which produce a significant amount of carbon dioxide. By reducing use of electricity, the power stations will need to produce less and therefore also produce less carbon dioxide.

While the North American International Auto Show is going on at Cobo Center in Detroit now, this weekend in sunny SoCal, Buick is continuing an interesting car-meets-foodie tour around the country that is a way to allow potential customers to test drive its latest lineup and see that this is not your grandfather’s Buick, while you get to meet super chefs like TV’s MIng Tsai, Hugh Achely and Ben Roche, the molecular gastronomy guy, who makes desserts with liquid nitrogen. This invite-only event comes to the OC this weekend and LA next. There’s a giveaway for a pair of tickets…Oh, and you get an autographed cookbook from the celebrity chef as a parting gift!