A recent post on News24.com (a South African online news service) caught my attention: Tourists cause global warming.

Well, yeah. That much is obvious. The question is: what can we do about it?

Specifically, what can a town like Jackson, which depends upon 3-4 million visitors passing through our little gateway to Yellowstone each year, do to lessen the CO2 emissions of its visitors?

In fact, Mayor Mark Barron asked me basically the same question in a recent interview for a position on the joint Town/County Energy Efficiency Board. (I wasn't chosen, perhaps because of my inability to answer the Mayor's question.)

After giving the question a lot of thought, I still don't have an answer. The folks with RVs, ATVs, snow mobiles and other fuel guzzling modes of transportation are always going to be welcome here. Our economy may not be as dependent upon tourism as it once was, but we're certainly not ready or willing to discourage anyone from visiting.

Last weekend's 32nd annual World Championship Snowmobile Hill Climb is a prime example. Not only were the streets at the base of Snow King filled with countless super-sized pickups with Idaho and Utah license plates, most with a snowmobile in the back, but every single visitor was here to celebrate the mastery of  machine over mountain.

Did any of these visitors even notice or appreciate the fact that their lodging hosts offered green housekeeping options? How many of them recycled anything?

I hate to be a pessimist, but I really struggle with the consumption that events like the Hill Climb encourage–not to mention the needless CO2 emissions that are the event's only legacy to those of us who are not shopkeepers.

I fear that the days of fuel efficient recreational vehicles are too far in the future. Last time I checked, Arctic Cat, Bombardier, Winnebago, Sportsmobile, et al weren't even considered, much less regulated by Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards.

What's up with that?

Carbon Neutral Journal's thoughts are brought to you by Hawtin Jorgensen Architects.

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