State advocates Early Action Compact  by Cling Confehr (Williamson County, TN Review Appeal, April 23, 2004) reports that the area avoided EPA sanctions for not meeting the nation’s clean air standard. Those sanctions could have denied road funding, required more auto emission tests, and stopped industrial development in the area. How did they dodge the bullet?

"EPA delayed such sanctions because Williamson and other Middle Tennessee counties struck and agreement — an Early Action Compact — to do things differently when smog is too thick.

Under the agreement, businesses will: encourage car pooling; fuel their fleets days later or at night; let certain employees work at home; and have maintenance crews defer work which adds to air pollution such as mowing lawns or painting outside."

First Tennessee Banks, for example, will allow employees in “back office jobs” such as accounting, researching and marketing to telecommute, substituting a computer and the Internet to reduce their use of cars.

5:04:49 PM    
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Consumers fret over soaring gas, but don't change their driving habits (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 22, 2004) shows us that despite the national average for gas prices climbing to $2/gallon, people aren't changing their habits... yet. But Jim Kliesch of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, a Washington-based non-profit research group, thinks $2 a gallon "seems to be the magic number. Once gasoline prices reach two bucks a gallon, we get a significant increase in inquiries about what people can do to save fuel," he said. Kliesch's primary recommendation is to buy a more fuel-efficient vehicle. Not really an option unless you're in the market for a new car.

Among the article's other recommendations, of course, is telecommuting. Why isn't this option given more weight? Even at $2 a gallon, changing people's habits is a tough thing to do. Another article, 10 personal actions that can make a difference for the environment (by Environmental News Network, April 22, 2004) offers this perspective:

"Employers are becoming more flexible about what defines a workday. By working four 10-hour days or working from home one day a week, you commute less and become part of the pollution solution. Over a year, that’s 50 fewer days you waste in traffic." 

8:50:11 AM    
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