Slow is Better

Just like in Aesop's most famous fable, "slow and steady wins the race." In this instance, I am talking about how reducing speeds can cut emissions and increase efficiency.

How does reducing speed increase efficiency? That is simple. You see, as an object speeds up, there is more resistance trying to slow it down. A good example of this would be when you drive you car. When you drive 5 miles per hour and the windows are down, you can't feel any wind. If you drive 50 miles per hour with the windows down, there is going to be tons of wind. This is because, as you speed up, the particles floating around in the air are hitting your car with a lot more force because you are coming at them with a lot more force. Like Newton said, "every action has an equal and opposite reaction."

The way that this theory works with slowing down is that, when there is less resistance, you don't have to work as hard to go as fast. Another example of this could be going up a hill. If you walk up the hill, you are going to take a while, but you won't get very tired doing it. If, on the other hand, you run up the hill, you aren't going to take nearly as long, but you will be really tired when you reach the top. This works the same with other things too. And so, in order to save that energy, you can lose time by going slower.

This concept of losing time is really difficult for us as Americans in general. Our whole lives are focused on improvements to make things faster. Because, we have been trained that faster is better. We used to all think that bigger was always better, but thankfully people have started to realize what a bad idea commercializing the Hummer really was. We can change our thinking just like we have been doing with size, by realizing that going slower can be a good thing.

For instance, according to the New York Times article that I am about to talk about in more detail, if a driver slows down from 65 to 55 miles per hour, they can save 20% more gas. That 10 mile per hour decrease in speed can save you tons of gas. In todays world, where there are speed limits, and going below them will just make everyone around you really mad, the best advice that I can give to you is to not speed. It might be fun, but it is dangerous, and really wasteful.

And now to my article: this related New York Times article for today's topic is written by Elisabeth Rosenthal and is called, Slow Trip Across Sea Aids Profit and Environment. The primary focus of this article, as you might have guessed, is about a Danish shipping giant named Maersk and his slower moving, more efficient boats. What Maersk did for the past two years, was to cut their top speeds in half, going a new speed which has been named 'super slow.' Going this speed, things are shipped 25% slower, but there are 30% less emissions and a 30% less fuel consumption. He plans on implementing this new 'super slow' speed plan in more boats. This is a great step forward for businesses, to realize that everything is not just about the speed at which it is done. I want to applaud Maersk for this excellent idea.

-Morgan