BailOut's Interview: Conservation in 2009 and Beyond

[ChinoCharles]

Brian Morris is certainly one of the more unorthodox Yaris owners in the country. While the online subcompact community clamors about the latest supercharger or one of a gaggle of other ways to squeeze every available horse out of our displacement-challenged engines, Brian is somewhere coasting with his car turned off. He belongs to an up-and-coming (and often misunderstood) niche in the world of automotive enthusiasts, one that places emphasis on economy over ego and MPG over Max HP. We now know these men and women to be Hypermilers, intent on making a gallon of gas go further than anyone imagined possible. However, Brian's involvement in the Hypermiling community is symptomatic of a larger ideology, and a timely one at that. As the United States is drowning in its own energy dependencies, there are people out there waking up and realizing their consumption affects more than just this month's bills. Brian is one of those people. I wanted to sit down and pick his brain a bit about what he stands for in hopes that we could all take a lesson from it. His battle is a noble one, but it is admittedly against the grain of societal norms. It takes courage, discipline, and a spirit of individuality that few possess.

Charles: Hello Brian.

Brian: Hello.

Charles: First of all, tell me how your personal fight against energy dependency began. Was there a breaking point or was it a gradual process?

Brian: It was a breaking point. It was the winter of 1991 and I was catching a ride back from the front lines of Operation Desert Storm on a truck as a cease fire had been called. One fellow remarked that it was over and he still didn't know why we were there. We had been shown many facets of the reasoning for our involvement in that conflict but none of them had ever made any sense. On the morning we'd first been sent there the daily reports showed 27 other "hot spots" around the world. Why was Kuwait special? One of the senior fellows answered, "We're here for the oil, dumbass. Plain and simple." That hit me like a ton of bricks as I realized that not only was he correct, but that we had just lost and killed people for no purpose other than continued access to oil.

Charles: Was that the end of active duty in your life? How did that experience affect your perception of the civilian world here at home?

Brian: That was not the end of my active duty (I went on to serve 5 more years) but that was the beginning of the end of it. My perception of the civilian world changed dramatically at that time because I realized that it's not just a President that sends us to war, but the entirety of Congress. Along with senior cabinet officials every one of those folks was totally on board with Gulf War 1. They all understood that oil is a critical component of the American way of life and they were willing to sacrifice other people's sons to keep their hands on it. That also got me to thinking about how we in the developed world live, how we use things, why oil is so important to us, etc.

Charles: What was the first step in your lifestyle change? Can you pick one thing?

Brian: I was exposed to lots of environmental issues as a child and saw some pretty horrible environmental things during my time in the military and while living in Texas but I always managed to think that it was someone else's problem. I think the first step in my lifestyle change came the day that I moved to Reno, NV and found recycle bins on my door step. They had been dropped off by the local waste management company when we opened an account with them. There was even a refrigerator magnet with the pickup schedule included. This was the first time I'd ever been anywhere where something like recycling was embraced.

Charles: Let’s skip ahead for a moment... September 11th, 2001. Did that day serve to strengthen your resolve, and if so to what degree? Was there anything you did differently on September 12th?

Brian: First let me say that my views of 9/11 are not in line with the mainstream perceptions. The first thought that entered my mind on 9/11 was "Well, that's what we get for playing in the sandbox, and for continually pushing people around. Someone finally pushed back.." Yes, it did help to steel my resolve some more but only a little. I knew they weren't upset with us just because we are addicted to oil, but also because of the way that we go about our foreign policies.

Charles: With your experience in the Gulf region, how sick are you now? Haha! It seems our involvement in the region has only deepened.

Brian: Let's keep it simple. I can sum up all of my feelings about that in one sentence: I feel that GWB is the worst President in my lifetime so far, and that he has done nearly irreparable harm to the image of our country and the way the world interacts with us.

Charles: I appreciate your concision. Now, back to energy… When did you first hear the term "Hypermiling?" What spurred your involvement in that community, and how has the Yaris played a role in that involvement?

Brian: I got a new job that required commuting over 4,500 vertical feet each day. The car that I had been driving had done decently on the plains of Texas but was aging doing horribly on mileage in the mountains. I searched on-line for some tips on fuel economy but all I could find was the garden variety stuff about car maintenance and tire pressure. In that time Mother Jones magazine ran an article on the fellow that started the hypermiling movement, Wayne Gerdes, and it was linked to a message board I followed. I read that article and it led me to CleanMPG.com and it was exactly what I had been looking for. It is a community of folks that are totally dedicated to the pursuit of fuel economy. Also in that time my last vehicle began to become costly to keep on the road due to mechanical repairs so I began researching my next car. I knew I wanted something fuel efficient and when I stumbled across the Yaris it not only fit that bill but it was cheap, good looking, and Toyota's reliability is something nice to have when you commute a 2-lane mountain road that has no shoulder for much of it. I also verified ahead of time that most of the hypermiling techniques would work with the Yaris (which they do, especially with the manual transmission).

Charles: Yes. I remember vividly when you broke the DFCO feature to the masses. I'm certain you have your ear to the ground on things like that. What is on the horizon? Or, what technology out of all of the others do you wish we had right now? Electric, Hydrogen, Hybrids... so much to choose from, but it is so hard to tell what is viable.

Brian: Hybrids impress me only as a stepping stone to better things. Hydrogen will never happen except possibly as a slow-charged range extender on an electric vehicle as it takes 3 times more energy to get the hydrogen gas from water than you get back when you burn it. The future is electrics. We should have been there in the 1970's and could have been there in the 1990's (reference "Who Killed the Electric Car?") but it is finally happening. The Asian manufacturers, more likely Chinese than Japanese, will bring them to us.

Charles: So where is your Tesla Roadster?

Brian: I have it parked in the garage of my McMansion.

Charles: OK, back to seriousness... the last thing I want to touch on is the relationship between your fight against energy dependency and personal choices you make for yourself. We know you as someone that eats healthy, exercises and all that good stuff. To what extent do you think your involvement in Hypermiling is a complement to your healthy lifestyle, or do the two operate somewhat independently?

Brian: To me they are all part of the same lifestyle. It's all about "The 3 Rs" - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. What good is it for me to buy all my food when I can grow some? Why would I buy a new <x> when the old once will still be serviceable with a little work, why would I conserve at home and not on the road, etc. I think the best way to explain it is that I treat life with a holistic view and yearn for a balance within myself. To me that's being *in* the world instead of just on it.

Charles: Finally, tell me a bit about what it has been like socially to live this lifestyle. Have your friends and family been receptive? Your wife supportive? What was the hardest part of making the change?

Brian: People (including friends and family) are a little skeptical at first but they usually come around. My wife offered some resistance at first but once you understand the entire dust-to-cradle loops living smarter, and therefore more conservatively, is simply logical. Now she's turning into an ecoist as well.

The hardest part for me was... well, it is difficult to explain as it was a combination of emotions. In its simplest form it was dealing with the guilt once I realized that I had lived so wrongly for the first 35 years of my life. So much waste, so much antipathy, so much disregard for the future - not only for the planet but for my own body. It can be difficult to admit when you are wrong about even a little thing, but admitting to a huge and lengthy string of errors can be downright sad. I had to work through those negative emotions and learn how to question myself, and more importantly how to be honest with myself about who I am and who I want to be, and how I want to leave my mark on the world.

Charles: So do you think you've found your place now?

Brian: I have found my place within conservation but I am still working to change parts of myself that I think need it. I never want to be the guy that says, "Well, that's just the way I am." If there is room for improvement then change is necessary.

Thanks again to Brian for taking some time to speak with me. I sincerely hope that as time goes on we can learn something from people like him. They are all around us. Society is conforming to scarcity, as it always has and as it always will. Those that don't will inevitably fall. We can all do our part to help, whether it be one step at a time or in a drastic epiphany of change and adaptation. Whatever your favorite flavor of progress may be, tap into it this year. Do something more. Now is the time!

[Bob_VT]

Brian: That was not the end of my active duty (I went on to serve 5 more years) but that was the beginning of the end of it. My perception of the civilian world changed dramatically at that time because I realized that it's not just a President that sends us to war, but the entirety of Congress. Along with senior cabinet officials every one of those folks was totally on board with Gulf War 1. They all understood that oil is a critical component of the American way of life and they were willing to sacrifice other people's sons to keep their hands on it. That also got me to thinking about how we in the developed world live, how we use things, why oil is so important to us, etc.

True. The President did not act alone.

Brian: Let's keep it simple. I can sum up all of my feelings about that in one sentence: I feel that GWB is the worst President in my lifetime so far, and that he has done nearly irreparable harm to the image of our country and the way the world interacts with us.

So President Bush did all that in less than 9 months to cause the 9/11 attack?

Good write-up with a touch of a political slant.

[ChinoCharles]

To deny that politics plays a part in the conservation movement would be irresponsible, no matter what side of the fence you call home. It is all connected, but I hope the interview didn't feel focused on it. Rather, I wanted to brush against it on the way to bigger ideas.

[Bob_VT]

Where's the pick up truck and the boat with the sterndrive? Those were not an efficient duo. I have no sympathy for people who drive 27 miles to and from work..... that is freedom of choice.

Have Brian post his award for conservation that he reveived (Lost in the hack :( ) and I think that speaks highly of him.

Amazing that we can manage to point a finger at President Bush and blame it on oil! OMG The first Gulf War was in 1991 that's 18 years ago we were involved and to relate it to President GWB.......

I will tell you who I have the absolute highest regard for..... the military that participated and anyone who was there or is there.

[talnlnky]

Originally Posted by Bob_VT

Amazing that we can manage to point a finger at President Bush and blame it on oil! OMG The first Gulf War was in 1991 that's 18 years ago we were involved and to relate it to President GWB.......

you forget the 80's.... you don't have to send thousands of troops to be in a war.

[SilverGlow]

I generally appreciate the interview with Brian. However parts of his responses strike me as disingenuous, to be sure:

"The hardest part for me was... well, it is difficult to explain as it was a combination of emotions. In its simplest form it was dealing with the guilt once I realized that I had lived so wrongly for the first 35 years of my life. So much waste, so much antipathy, so much disregard for the future - not only for the planet but for my own body. It can be difficult to admit when you are wrong about even a little thing, but admitting to a huge and lengthy string of errors can be downright sad. I had to work through those negative emotions and learn how to question myself, and more importantly how to be honest with myself about who I am and who I want to be, and how I want to leave my mark on the world."

Not only are these thoughts unreasonable, illogical, and an exercise in self-indulgence, but these words are unbeleivable, to be sure. How profound, and deep, Brian. The man with a conscience over oil waste. A bit over the top, yea?!? I share his compulsion to save gas, and of course I do...I drive a Yaris too. However I'm not going to beat myself up for being a wasteful person for the first 45 years of my life.

And yes, the flow of oil in the early 1990's was in fact worth fighting over. Are we to be made to feel guilt for that nobel fight? Like it or not, good or bad, we live in an oil economy, so get over it, that we sent young American boys to die in Kuwait. That is what soldiers do. They fight for our country and sadly, sometimes they give their lives. This is not to suggest that all fights are worth it. Vietnam certainlly was a waste of young American lives, but Kuwait and the defense of oil flow are very, very different.

Yes, agreed GWB is the worse president. Ever! However to blame him entirely for all our oil woes is to show ignorance of the subject. Having fought there, been there, felt the danger of being in the middle east is not necessarily a qualification any more credible then those of us that have never been there. We have eyes. We have ears. And there are many other soldiers who've also been there, that would disagree with Brian.

Good interview Chino, however a dark part of Brian's phsycy does come through.

Regardless, I do appreciate Brian's contributions to conservation, and research, and consultations he has given all of us in finding better wasy to increase MPG, and can only be a good thing.

[ChinoCharles]

I don't even know how to respond to that. All I can say is I encourage all who read this to do so with a very open mind. Don't do Brian the disservice of pigeonholing his entire worldview based on a few questions.

[justjesus]

Pretty cool interview and post, regardless of one's own political views.
Thank you Chino

[ChinoCharles]

Don't thank me!

[supmet]

Originally Posted by Bob_VT

So President Bush did all that in less than 9 months to cause the 9/11 attack?

No one said that.

Originally Posted by Bob_VT

Amazing that we can manage to point a finger at President Bush and blame it on oil! OMG The first Gulf War was in 1991 that's 18 years ago we were involved and to relate it to President GWB.......

Hmmm. you're right. W has no ties to oil whatsoever. He didn't start a war claiming there were WMDs when there were none. Dick Cheney has no affiliations with halleburton.

seriously, why do people defend W?

Originally Posted by SilverGlow

I generally appreciate the interview with Brian. However parts of his responses strike me as disingenuous, to be sure:

"The hardest part for me was... well, it is difficult to explain as it was a combination of emotions. In its simplest form it was dealing with the guilt once I realized that I had lived so wrongly for the first 35 years of my life. So much waste, so much antipathy, so much disregard for the future - not only for the planet but for my own body. It can be difficult to admit when you are wrong about even a little thing, but admitting to a huge and lengthy string of errors can be downright sad. I had to work through those negative emotions and learn how to question myself, and more importantly how to be honest with myself about who I am and who I want to be, and how I want to leave my mark on the world."

Not only are these thoughts unreasonable, illogical, and an exercise in self-indulgence, but these words are unbeleivable, to be sure. How profound, and deep, Brian. The man with a conscience over oil waste. A bit over the top, yea?!? I share his compulsion to save gas, and of course I do...I drive a Yaris too. However I'm not going to beat myself up for being a wasteful person for the first 45 years of my life.

And yes, the flow of oil in the early 1990's was in fact worth fighting over. Are we to be made to feel guilt for that nobel fight? Like it or not, good or bad, we live in an oil economy, so get over it, that we sent young American boys to die in Kuwait. That is what soldiers do. They fight for our country and sadly, sometimes they give their lives. This is not to suggest that all fights are worth it. Vietnam certainlly was a waste of young American lives, but Kuwait and the defense of oil flow are very, very different.

Yes, agreed GWB is the worse president. Ever! However to blame him entirely for all our oil woes is to show ignorance of the subject. Having fought there, been there, felt the danger of being in the middle east is not necessarily a qualification any more credible then those of us that have never been there. We have eyes. We have ears. And there are many other soldiers who've also been there, that would disagree with Brian.

wowoweewoo. That is perhaps the most american response to anything - EVER. Some people feel bad for using 10x the amount of energy on a day to day basis than 90% of the rest of the world. For you to say there's something wrong with that, is pretty crazy.

No one blamed W "entirely for all our oil woes." You are twisting words, because there is no other way to make what bush(es) has done sound right..

Oil > life? seriously dude, I have a friend who is still recovering from brain damage from an IED... I would gladly take the train or walk to be able to talk to him... Before you blast other people and say there is something wrong with them for feeling bad about destroying the planet and supporting violence, take a look in the mirror man.


Sorry to continue taking this thread off track - good interview man.. But I think(as has been shown here) if people don't get it by now, they never will.

[Bob_VT]

Start looking to the good things in life and be thankful for what we have. I think tomorrow I will see some granola crunching birkenstock wearing person and I will avoid running their ass over even though they blame everything on President Bush. Every time I drive past a President Bush basher I will make an effort not to hit them with my gas gulping yaris. Screw hypermiler's I fought for the oil...... I get to use it

[SilverGlow]

Originally Posted by supmet

No one said that.



Hmmm. you're right. W has no ties to oil whatsoever. He didn't start a war claiming there were WMDs when there were none. Dick Cheney has no affiliations with halleburton.

seriously, why do people defend W?




wowoweewoo. That is perhaps the most american response to anything - EVER. Some people feel bad for using 10x the amount of energy on a day to day basis than 90% of the rest of the world. For you to say there's something wrong with that, is pretty crazy.

No one blamed W "entirely for all our oil woes." You are twisting words, because there is no other way to make what bush(es) has done sound right..

Oil > life? seriously dude, I have a friend who is still recovering from brain damage from an IED... I would gladly take the train or walk to be able to talk to him... Before you blast other people and say there is something wrong with them for feeling bad about destroying the planet and supporting violence, take a look in the mirror man.


Sorry to continue taking this thread off track - good interview man.. But I think(as has been shown here) if people don't get it by now, they never will.

Yes, now, today and perhaps tomorrow, we all would be dead without oil. In case you have not noticed, we need it. Badly.

This is not to suggest that oil should be here to stay. No, quite the contrary, and Brian is correct in saying that we should get off oil ASAP. But today, now, we need oil. And if our oil supply was halted now, and in the next second, very quickly we all would suffer. It is sad you don't understand this. Perhaps if you put the Karl Marx book down for a minute and thought about it, you might see the light, and see just how important going to Kuwait and fighting to keep the oil flowing was.

Regardless, we can all agree that our future is better if we find ways to get off our oil adiction, and that is something we all can agree on.

[33OH]

Originally Posted by ChinoCharles

...in hopes that we could all take a lesson from it.

Come on guys, we all have our opinions on the subject. But this isn't the thread for that.

[supmet]

Again with the word twisting, misinformation, and name calling. Bailout didn't force anyone to come here and read this. He's not hurting anyone, or insulting anyone who doesn't believe the same thing as him. He is just sharing his views on things that are wrong and steps he is taking to make them better. If you disagree, that's fine - I'm pretty sure the world is screwed no matter what we do at this point. But I see no reason for all the anger in here... (although I'd be crazy trying to understand someone who still supports bush)

"grrrr you dirty hippy minding your own business and not hurting anyone - I'm gonna run you over for trying not to destroy the environment"

Please, if you wish to call me names or show me how stupid I am, my PM box is always open.. Let's hope this thread can still serve its purpose, which was to give some insight into the mind of a hypermiler :D

[1NZYaris1]

Originally Posted by supmet

Again with the word twisting, misinformation, and name calling. Bailout didn't force anyone to come here and read this. He's not hurting anyone, or insulting anyone who doesn't believe the same thing as him. He is just sharing his views on things that are wrong and steps he is taking to make them better. If you disagree, that's fine - I'm pretty sure the world is screwed no matter what we do at this point. But I see no reason for all the anger in here... (although I'd be crazy trying to understand someone who still supports bush)

"grrrr you dirty hippy minding your own business and not hurting anyone - I'm gonna run you over for trying not to destroy the environment"

Please, if you wish to call me names or show me how stupid I am, my PM box is always open.. Let's hope this thread can still serve its purpose, which was to give some insight into the mind of a hypermiler :D

and +1 everyone has there own opinion, that's what make's us individual's,
No,
USA sucks , car parts are to cheap , gas is to cheap , and 0% interest rates kill the world , hay but life goes on ,you should live it one day at a time ,
because you might not be here tommorrow

that being said nice interview Charles.

[jonismyname]

when gas first crossed the $3/gallon line, i slowed down. i drove a 92 crown victoria at the time, and went from 18mpg to 25+mpg. i preached hypermiling, driving 55, and when my CV kicked the bucket i bought a geo metro and averaged 40+ consistantly. bought my yaris because of it's practical fuel consumption, and averaged high 30's and low 40's the first 10k. tracked my fuel consumption on cleanmpg.com.

when gas prices recently tanked, i started driving like i was 16 again. i've been averaging low 30's (winter tires/winter gas don't help, but i could do a lot better...)
it's fun to go fast.

im no english major, so i apologize for rambling. but my point is, i take away from this renewed intention to take very important things into consideration when living day to day life. regardless of your political views, YOUR actions affect the environment you live in, and MY actions affect the environement YOU live in. so thinking about these things when you live your day to day life is very important on many levels, and stepping up and making a real commitment to choose this as your way of changing the world and leaving your mark is commendable and difficult.

if you leave terrorism and war and all the headline politics out of the discussion, the political trend over the past 8 years has been very damaging to environmental issues, and would be a more proper debate...

it is silly and unamusing to debate the interviewee's personal motivation for what caused him to change his life in a dramatic manner, he was sharing personal experiences and describing what lit his fire, not picking a political fight.

if you want to fight politics, turn on fox news and yell at the Tv.

personally, im suprised nobody here commented on him bringing up Reduce Reuse Recycle, as thrifty yaris owners, we seem to be a club of people making an economical car just the way we like it, often times with things that didn't cost us a ton of money. and then when we buy new toys for our cars, we trade and barter the original or used fancy parts between ourselves. we are a commune of yaris hippies, sharing the love and joy of our simple transportation. and my beer is empty so im done for now.

[ChinoCharles]

^^^ Best post ever?

[Return of the Yarii]

For once I agree with Chino , one of the best posts ever.....