Observations of a former home state…and weak arguments for burning jet fuel

May 27, 7:50pm

Hey folks, Jeff here. I’m currently 36,837 feet above ground, soaring across the early Midwest en route to Orange County—John Wayne Airport—at about 450 miles per hour. Our layover is over three hours away in Denver. Let me give a brief plug for Frontier Airlines: the live sky map is kick ass. If you can forgive the intermittent ads that interrupt an otherwise steady charting of your course, channel 13 may just suit you fine. However, Frontier is a working example of the tight financial reality in which airlines operate. Not only must passengers foot the bill for unappetizing snacks, but in-flight movies and TV are no longer complimentary. It’s a sad day when stale peanuts and crappy movies no longer define the air travel experience.

We just left Philadelphia fifty minutes ago (45 minutes late due to some runway logjam). Although based in Washington, DC, Philly had the only flight to California compatible with our schedule. (Oh, the sacrifices made for 9 a.m. staff meetings.) I grew up in Pennsylvania, near Hershey, about 90 miles from center city Philly where I went to college. But I’ve never flown over the Commonwealth in this direction. A few observations from cloud level:

1). The Appalachians resemble anything but mountains; their long, deep grooves appear more like a wrinkled pair of chinos lying flat on an ironing board than the dominant range of the eastern seaboard. Interesting to see, but wholly unimpressive.

2). The center of PA near State College is emptiness at its most obvious. If there’s a place on Earth where Mother Nature decided to bubble wrap boring, green terrain, this is it. Its varying tones of auburn and olive swell and deflate as though you’re peering into a FedEx package.

3). This flying hallway just passed over Cleveland, which is practically submerged into Lake Erie. Lake Erie is big—as in there are city-sized islands protruding from its waters big. This fact is remarkable considering it’s one of the smaller Great Lakes.

OK…so the BioBlitz.

One question that has not been lost on me, or Ruben, is how do we justify flying 3,000 miles, and renting a car, just to help the environment? Well, a few ways.

First, it’s bit of a vacation; we can’t always abide by our environmental ethos in the name of fun. Secondly, we tried to rent a hybrid car, which was virtually impossible for our budgets. So, we’ll be purchasing carbon offsets for the mileage we accrue both by flight and car. TerraPass is a great organization that specializes in varying methods of carbon offsetting, and allows users to tailor to their own objectives (i.e. – traveling, commuting, lifestyle, etc.). It’s worth scoping out. Sure, offsets may be overrated, but they're the best option for now.

We understand that thoughtful individual efforts lead to positive collective effects on the environment. Yes, we’re culpable in leaving a size-737 carbon footprint on the planet below. We’re also guilty of wanting to travel this globe we so fervently strive to protect. Occasionally, sacrifices may be made. This is one of them; that simply means we’ll operate in ways to help right our voyaging wrongs. The first step: personal accountability.

We’ll be back later on with more details on our game plan once we get in to Cali. But, now it’s time to stop that damn “battery low” indicator from blinking.

Be well~

-j/d