Austin Motel
Formula One: Last Gasp
RECEIVED Wed., May 26, 2010
Dear Mayor, Council Members, and City Manager,
Before the city of Austin proceeds with the Formula One plan, will there be a study conducted to estimate the expected carbon footprint and environmental impact of both the construction of the racetrack as well as the annual race event? [“Formula One Coming to Austin,” The Score Sports blog, May 25.]
It would seem at this stage in our development as a species that a projected carbon footprint and environmental impact study should be required before any major capital project.
With the announcement of the F1 racetrack in the foreground, the oil spill continuing to destroy the Gulf of Mexico and its environs looms large in the background. The two are not unrelated.
The recreational use of oil byproducts is a 20th century luxury that we can no longer afford. It is through our lack of effective conservation measures and slow rate of speed toward adopting renewable sources that drives us deeper into the ocean in search of more.
The catastrophe in the Gulf should give us pause to think about everything we are doing with respect to the consumption of oil. This should include the development of a project in which the consumption of oil has no utility – i.e., it is simply wasted.
If built, the racetrack will be used during the period in human history when we will most definitely pass peak oil production and will see a dramatic rise in gasoline prices at the pumps and an incredible negative impact on the economy.
Future generations will laughingly look back at us and ponder why we moved forward with the construction of a car racetrack near the end of the era of the gasoline-powered combustion engine.
They will see this as our last-gasp effort at preserving some legacy of the free-for-all approach to energy consumption we all grew up with.
Let's not be stupid. We should not allow Formula One in our community. We should send a message to the world that people need to learn to enjoy other activities other than driving quickly around a track, burning carbon for no reason.
Before the city of Austin proceeds with the Formula One plan, will there be a study conducted to estimate the expected carbon footprint and environmental impact of both the construction of the racetrack as well as the annual race event? [“Formula One Coming to Austin,” The Score Sports blog, May 25.]
It would seem at this stage in our development as a species that a projected carbon footprint and environmental impact study should be required before any major capital project.
With the announcement of the F1 racetrack in the foreground, the oil spill continuing to destroy the Gulf of Mexico and its environs looms large in the background. The two are not unrelated.
The recreational use of oil byproducts is a 20th century luxury that we can no longer afford. It is through our lack of effective conservation measures and slow rate of speed toward adopting renewable sources that drives us deeper into the ocean in search of more.
The catastrophe in the Gulf should give us pause to think about everything we are doing with respect to the consumption of oil. This should include the development of a project in which the consumption of oil has no utility – i.e., it is simply wasted.
If built, the racetrack will be used during the period in human history when we will most definitely pass peak oil production and will see a dramatic rise in gasoline prices at the pumps and an incredible negative impact on the economy.
Future generations will laughingly look back at us and ponder why we moved forward with the construction of a car racetrack near the end of the era of the gasoline-powered combustion engine.
They will see this as our last-gasp effort at preserving some legacy of the free-for-all approach to energy consumption we all grew up with.
Let's not be stupid. We should not allow Formula One in our community. We should send a message to the world that people need to learn to enjoy other activities other than driving quickly around a track, burning carbon for no reason.
Stefan Wray
