I drove a car last Tuesday.  I drove a car 13 miles away from Madison and 13 miles back. Halfway through my fourth year here, I had never navigated this area with more horsepower than my own one or two.  But there I was at rush hour, motoring down 151 to Packers Avenue to 113 with a van full of supplies. I drove a car last Tuesday, and I liked it.

The trouble was in getting to Waunakee. As EnAct’s intern, my scattered presentations had not warranted the purchase of a motorized vehicle, not on promptness nor on principle. Yet I was disinclined to shoulder the tri-fold display and pedal all the way out there. Likely out of laziness, I permitted the trip to be one of those modern inconveniences that Henry Ford had planned for. Thank my stars for Madison’s own Community Car. Community Car, a sister company of the Madison Environmental Group, has 17 vehicles parked throughout downtown Madison. The idea is that cars have their purpose, and sharing does, too.  A tan minivan, my own clerical error, was waiting for me in a garage on West Washington all this time and I hadn’t even known it! With its help, I arrived at the Waunakee Public Library in time to set up and watch MGE’s Power Tomorrow workshop. A report on MGE’s presentations is forthcoming. 

 

Because the success of environmentalism is measured in trade-offs, like so many carbon caps, I could take some comfort in the measurable benefits of EnAct’s program. Were this not for a cause, all those greenhouse gases would have been for naught. My accountability in driving represented a commitment to high-octane charm. I had to be compelling enough to merit the trip. (That is, I had to coerce enough Waunakeeans into taking Steps to a Greener Living to make the drive worthwhile. I suspect a second cup of coffee would have helped, but only time will tell. Such are the anxieties of environmental advocacy.)

      

I turned smartly into the garage at 8:59. By no fault of Community Car, I wasn't sure what sort of penalty faced me when my rental expired at 9 p.m.. The car would likely just shut down. I threw my clothes, clipboard and keys on the asphalt and rolled out just in time. 

 

"Sure," I admitted on the burdened bike ride home, "I drove a car today, and I liked it.”  But I like this bike a whole lot more.