P.E.M.T.--I just created the acronym, stands for Prius Equivalent Miles Travelled. Here's a slightly tongue-in-cheek article from tmz.com (no idea what the site is, it was linked to on Drudge) on preachy 'green celebrities' and their travel habits. Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio...all drive Prii.** Yet all but one fly in private jets. The article converts the air travel to Prius equivalence. For example, one of Brad Pitt's private flights to Namibia (9400 miles) uses enough fuel to drive a Prius to the moon.
My favorite quote:
Clooney's rep, publicist Stan Rosenfield, tells TMZ, "You clearly have no understanding of certain people's need for private transport,"
Clearly. Keep reading to learn how to calculate your own P.E.M.T.
To calculate your own daily P.E.M.T: divide your daily miles travelled by your current average miles per gallon. Then multiply by 60 (the average Prius mpg). On my daily roundtrip commute of roughly 34 miles, I have a daily P.E.M.T. of 102 miles.
Interpretation: I could commute 102 miles in a Prius using the same amount of fuel as I currently use to commute 34 miles. Hmmm--that might make it cheaper for me to move further away from the city and buy a bigger house for less money. Oops, unintended consequence.
Feel free to report your own daily P.E.M.T. in the comments.
*Prii is the little known plural of Prius. Except Clooney who drives a Euro-electric thingy.
