A second comment. Yes the extra weight takes more jet fuel, but what about all the extra petroleum products used to grow and transport the extra food that is eaten. I don't know how to calculate it but I am sure that if everyone ate a sensible diet much more fuel would be saved. Ken --- Peggy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:.
> Another comment about the larger people: The amazing > weight gains make > flying the inexpensive flights interesting in > another way. You can > really rub shin again and again when seated next to > an obese person. > Rubbing skin with a stranger is really strange. It > bugs me to tuck in > my arms and still be skin to skin with the next > person when I don't even > know the name. > > Peggy > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of Greg Harbican > Sent: Friday, November 05, 2004 8:30 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [Biofuel] Fly the fatty skies ( obesity > increases pollution ) > > Obesity hurts more than the people with the extra > weight. > > Greg H. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > -------------------------- > > Feds: Obesity Raising Airline Fuel Costs > > November 4, 2004 08:57 PM EST > > > ATLANTA - Heavy suitcases aren't the only things > weighing down airplanes > and requiring them to burn more fuel, pushing up the > cost of flights. A > new government study reveals that airlines > increasingly have to worry > more about the weight of their passengers. > > America's growing waistlines are hurting the bottom > lines of airline > companies as the extra pounds on passengers are > causing a drag on > planes. Heavier fliers have created heftier fuel > costs, according to the > government study. > > Through the 1990s, the average weight of Americans > increased by 10 > pounds, according to the Centers for Disease Control > and Prevention. The > extra weight caused airlines to spend $275 million > to burn 350 million > more gallons of fuel in 2000 just to carry the > additional weight of > Americans, the federal agency estimated in a recent > issue of the > American Journal of Preventive Medicine. > > "The obesity epidemic has unexpected consequences > beyond direct health > effects," said Dr. Deron Burton of the CDC. "Our > goal was to highlight > one area that had not been looked at before." > > The extra fuel burned also had an environmental > impact, as an estimated > 3.8 million extra tons of carbon dioxide were > released into the air, > according to the study. > > The agency said its calculations are rough > estimates, issued to > highlight previously undocumented consequences of > the ongoing obesity > epidemic. > > The estimates were calculated by determining how > much fuel the 10 extra > pounds of weight per passenger represented in > Department of > Transportation airline statistics, Burton said. > > Obesity is a life-or-death struggle in the United > States, the underlying > cause of 400,000 deaths in 2000, a 33 percent jump > from 1990. If current > trends persist, it will become the nation's No. 1 > cause of preventable > death, the CDC said earlier this year. > > More than half - 56 percent - of U.S. adults were > overweight or obese in > the early 1990s, according to a CDC survey. That > rose to 65 percent in a > similar survey done from 1999 to 2002. > > Although the Air Transport Association of America > has not yet validated > the CDC data, spokesman Jack Evans said the health > agency's appraisal > "does not sound out of the realm of reality." > > With most airlines reporting losses blamed partly on > record-high fuel > costs, everything on an airplane is now a weighty > issue. Airlines are > doing everything they can to lighten the load on all > aircraft, from > wide-body jets to turboprops. > > Bulky magazines have gone out the door. Metal forks > and spoons have been > replaced with plastic. Large carry-ons are being > scrutinized and even > heavy materials that used to make up airplane seats > are being replaced > with plastic and other lightweight materials. > > "We're dealing in a world of small numbers - even > though it has a very > incremental impact" to reduce a 60- to 120-ton > aircraft's weight by > bumping off a few magazines, Evans said. "When you > consider airlines are > flying millions of miles, it adds up over time." > > Although passenger bulk has been an issue in the > past - Dallas-based > Southwest Airlines requires large people to buy a > second seat for > passenger safety and comfort - Evans says it's not > likely airlines will > scrutinize how much passengers weigh in the future. > Instead, they are > trying to do a better job of estimating passenger > weight in figuring out > how much fuel they need for a flight. > > Seattle-based Alaska Airlines now calculates the > weight of children on > flights, instead of using adult-weight formulas for > all passengers, > Evans said. > > "Just like we don't control the costs of our fuel, > we don't control the > weights of our passengers," he said. "Passengers > gain weight, but > airlines are the ones that go on a diet. It's part > of the conundrum we > face right now." > > --- > > On The Net: > > CDC info: http://www.cdc.gov > > > November 4, 2004 08:57 PM EST > > > ATLANTA - Heavy suitcases aren't the only things > weighing down airplanes > and requiring them to burn more fuel, pushing up the > cost of flights. A > new government study reveals that airlines > increasingly have to worry > more about the weight of their passengers. > > America's growing waistlines are hurting the bottom > lines of airline > companies as the extra pounds on passengers are > causing a drag on > planes. Heavier fliers have created heftier fuel > costs, according to the > government study. > > Through the 1990s, the average weight of Americans > increased by 10 > pounds, according to the Centers for Disease Control > and Prevention. The > extra weight caused airlines to spend $275 million > to burn 350 million > more gallons of fuel in 2000 just to carry the > additional weight of > Americans, the federal agency estimated in a recent > issue of the > American Journal of Preventive Medicine. > > "The obesity epidemic has unexpected consequences > beyond direct health > effects," said Dr. Deron Burton of the CDC. "Our > goal was to highlight > one area that had not been looked at before." > === message truncated === __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://wwia.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/biofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel archives at Infoarchive.net (searchable): http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/
