Oil Dependence Got You Down?

What do you do, what can you do if you are furious over this administration’s timid steps to gingerly raise automobile mileage per gallon requirements? If like me, you’re reading the front page of the business section of today’s New York Times and seething over the mindlessness of an administration that can’t bring itself to contend with the reality and detrimental effects of dependence upon foreign oil and global warming, there are things you can do right now (see Slight Shift In S.U.V.’s In New Rule on Mileage). It’s now so easy to take the courageous step of owing up to our individual responsibility for the mess we’re in. After all, we all drive cars so why wait for someone else to solve the problems that our own choices create? Thanks to some seriously innovative companies, solutions are at hand.

Here are several easy steps we can take immediately to play our individual parts:

- Get yourself a TerraPass. A TerraPass lets you easily eliminate the equivalent of your car's CO2 emissions and provides you with a seal of approval certificate sticker to place on your car.

- Switch your AAA auto club membership to Better World Club (EEE). AAA supports the highway lobby and wants to see more cars on the road. Better World Club offers equal if not better service than AAA and possesses a slew of environmentally responsible, greenhouse gas reducing initiatives. You need this service no matter what so why not make the easy switch to the company that works for a cleaner future.

- If you drive a diesel car or truck get your butt to the biodiesel filling stations proliferating around the country. Follow the lead of Willie Nelson who recently launched his own brand of biodiesel called BioWillie. Biodiesel is a clean burning alternative fuel, produced from domestic, renewable resources. Biodiesel contains no petroleum, but it can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend.

These actions will work for you, your country and the planet. They are easy to take. I’m not suggesting you trade in your SUV for a Prius. Hey, if you want to do it, that would be awesome, but that’s not what this is about. What I’m telling you is that it is so easy to remain in your lifestyle, enjoy the car you drive and be more environmentally responsible all at the same time.

-- Josh