MY FIRST SWEEPSTRESS PROTEST

Every travel sweeps I enter is promoting something, usually a product or a place. Today’s sweeps is a promotion by Amoco, the gasoline conglomerate. Yes, gasoline, the finite-resource fossil-fuel derivative of which the U.S. consumes over 100 billion gallons a year, the derivative from the natural resource that could, touch wood, be at the heart of World War III one day.

Global warming has me reassessing nonessential travel. Headlines that the Swiss Alps are crumbling and Antarctica is shrinking can do that to a gal. I do not plan to stop traveling altogether, at least not anytime soon. I still see road trips in my future, as well as flights to parts afar. But I think we should all should get a much better sense of how much energy we use when we travel. I mean, is jet exhaust diminishing the ozone layer? Everything in moderation may become the new travel mantra.

I suspect this is part of the responsible/ethical travel movement. If anyone can suggest a resource on this, I would very much appreciate it. I will begin researching this myself when I get to the other side of a deadline.

As for this sweeps, I entered this one this morning for a chance to win a four-night stay in your choice of one of five U.S. cities (I selected Los Angeles. The other four are Las Vegas, San Francisco, Denver, Orlando). But now that I think of it, and writing always helps me understand what I think, I’m not going to keep trying to win this one. And if I win, I will ceremoniously decline the prize. It’s my little sweepstress protest.

To check out the sweeps that I am protesting, click HERE.

P.S. Two coincidences, one amusing, one not: Today is Bastille Day, a perfect day for protest, even small ones. Also today: The National Climatic Data Center reported that the first six months of this year were the warmest on record for the 48 contiguous states.