Cut your carbon and save on auto insurance
by Adam Stern
Here’s another example of how the tortoise beats the hare. The insurance industry is starting to offer lower rates for drivers who drive less, apply a light foot on the pedal, and avoid sudden stops. These driving habits save fuel and reduce carbon emissions. They also cut down on accident risks and the resulting insurance claims. Now technology is helping insurance companies identify such conservation-minded drivers and reward them with lower premiums.
To get the benefits, drivers have to agree to put a device in their car (it plugs into the same diagnostic port as the ScanGauge) that tracks driving patterns. Every six months, participants must upload the collected data and send it to the insurer. A more advanced system can transmit the information wirelessly. There’s no GPS tracking involved, which the insurance companies say should allay privacy concerns (although some drivers may not be convinced).
Two big insurers offering the pay-as-you-drive discounts in selected states are Progressive (via the MyRate program) and GMAC Insurance (via the Low-Mileage Discount program in association with OnStar). Researchers at The Hamilton Project of the Brookings Institution report that broad adoption of such programs could reduce driving by 8% nationwide, with comparable CO2 reductions. Average savings for participants could be $270 per car per year.
Pay-as-you-drive insurance would probably be more common were it not for restrictive state regulations. Each state has its own insurance rules, which often limit innovative pricing programs. A bill pending in California would open up this feature to drivers in the state with the most cars. You can support the legislation here.
Climate action in the Arctic
by TerraPass
Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund, recently returned from a trip to the Arctic with a group of environmental, political, and business leaders all concerned about global climate change. The Arctic Expedition for Climate Action was sponsored by the Aspen Institute, the National Geographic Society, and Lindblad Expeditions. In this guest post, Fred reflects on the trip.
Perhaps the most inspiring moment occurred when a bearded seal swam right up to my kayak. When its large dark eye looked up into my eyes, I felt a deep desire to be part of efforts to make certain that these creatures aren’t decimated by climate change and the other all too prevalent threats.
We set out by ship from Svalbard, a three-hour plane flight from Oslo, Norway — the closest land to the North Pole. There are no trees or bushes, even grasses on Svalbard — just lichens, mosses, and low-to-the-ground flowering plants. Plants raise their heads at their own peril given the Arctic winds and temperatures. We were there at the optimum time to see them flower. We saw many in bloom including the Svalbard poppy and the Compass plant. The top few inches of the tundra were unfrozen in July, though I don’t think the temperatures ever reached 40 degrees during our stay. The ground was a wonderful spongy carpet of brilliant colors.
We saw many polar bears that depend on summer sea ice, which is vanishing. One bear, having gorged a seal, was in a food coma, seemingly oblivious to the ship’s presence, sprawled out with his bear-belly hanging off him and onto the ice. We heard about another bear that was starving and weighed less than 200 pounds at one point. Luckily, she was caught months later and is now up to 1,000 pounds. We saw many caribou (also called reindeer). We saw cliffs with thousands of sea birds, seemingly all talking in unison. The sun never set on our entire exploration, which made for many late night discussions — helped along by a midnight feeding provided by the crew.
One day we toured an old whaling site which had gigantic Bowhead whalebones. Bowhead whales, which Melville called the “Monarchs of the Seas,” are now extinct in the area. At one time, there were perhaps 200,000 in the Atlantic and 300,000 in the Pacific; now only 1,200 live in the Atlantic, most near Greenland, and none in the Pacific. For me, this was a grim reminder of how we humans are fully capable of harming our natural world in ways which impoverish and threaten our own survival.
Another day we hiked with Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter. Jimmy’s perseverance in climbing a hill at age 81 was remarkable. The Carters also kayaked twice, including one outing with freezing wind blowing off the glacier. They are an amazing couple.
At the conclusion of the trip, the participants released this climate action statement.
Photos by Lindblad Expeditions/Ralph Lee Hopkins.
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