Again, a sad story of how everything good comes under fire. Those of us who seek to enjoy life in the precious moments available, with the option of doing so while enjoying our favorite spirits, are being attacked without representation. Come April 1st, 2008, Torrey Pines State Beach is going dry (No joke, & no April fools... hah, that date is kinda ironic). Why? Because of the animals that live in both Mission & Pacific Beaches, and the debauchery that takes place at the local beaches there on a regular basis. San Diego officials, in fear that this behavior may spread north to the quieter communities in North County, primarily comprised of families and business professionals, are initiating a year long trial, banning alcohol at TPSB. I'm sort of speechless, and don't really know what to say. Playing the devil's advocate for a minute, I somewhat understand the ban in the 2 communities of MB & PB, earlier referenced. In my opinion, as an alternative to beach drinking, there are plenty of beach front bars & restaurants to get your drink on, for those who wish to go that route, without potentially disturbing those who wish to enjoy natures gift soberly. At Torrey Pines however, it just doesn't make sense. I DO plan to voice my opposition, when I have uncovered the best way to do so, and will be happy to forward that info on after doing so. I could go into so much detail, pointing out the glaring differences between the already banned beaches and TPSB, & why this pending ban is a ridiculous overreaction to of all things... Bloggers? But I won't, Read for yourself.And now... the JAW Dropper. My dad and I were
chatting at lunch last week. He was watching the History Channel and was made aware that an average Boeing 747 carries a mind boggling 50,000 gallons of fuel. Its range on that amount of fuel is approximately 6000 miles which is roughly the equivalent of a 12 hour trans-atlantic flight from Houston, TX. to Paris, France. After doing some quick math with rounded #'s, let's put this into perspective. Say the average car has a 20 gallon tank, and say that car fills up on average, 1 tank/week = 50 tanks/year. In 1 year, that average car will use ~ 1,000 gallons of gas. So... 1 transatlantic flight traveling a distance of 6000 miles in 12 hours, using 50,000 gallons of gas, could fuel the average car for... 50 YEARS!!! ONE FLIGHT. Think about how many of these planes fly every day. To add some more "fuel" to the fire, The smaller Boeing 737 as a fuel capacity roughly 10X less than its big brother the 747. So say one 737 flight at maximum distance = 5 years of gas for the average car. Since 1967, over 5,000 737's have been delivered and currently, it is estimated that there are as many as 1,250 airborne at any given moment. On average, a 737 departs or lands somewhere every five seconds. Obviously, all 1250 planes aren't exhausting there fuel on a given flight, but that size jet my make several flights in a day that may exhaust all of its fuel, so... Without considering the 747's use of fuel, if 1250 737's exhaust there fuel supply/day, that would fuel ~ 6250 average cars for 1 year. In case you were unaware, there are roughly 250 million cars in the U.S. (maybe even more).
More math: 250 M cars x avg car gas/yr (1000 gal.) = 250 B gal/yr
250 B total car gal/yr / 50 K gal/747 flt = 5 M flights = 13,500 747 flights/day
1250 737 tanks/day x 5000 gal = 6.25 M gal/day = 2.25 B 737 gal/yr
Math is funny,... and #'s don't lie. Initially, I was headed down a path that might reveal the apparent gluttony of airline travel, but in reality, the shear volume of cars in this country and the volume of gas that is consumed IS what is truly mind boggling. Even if you subtract the 2 B gallons, that my estimate of 737 travel consumes from 250 B, 747 sized planes would still need to log nearly 5 Million flights to catch up to annual car consumption. F! Wow!
I'm buying a hybrid.
