The 30% improvement in fuel economy referenced in this article from Wired magazine is a good reminder of the critical role of feedback and behavior change in our efforts to minimize climate change and move toward sustainability.

I must confess to being torn between the advantage of immediate feedback as I drive, and the very real disadvantage of distraction. For those of us driving on Vermont’s rural highways, distraction may be less of a problem, but in many cities it’s a real danger to add anything else to the driver’s mental over-stimulation.

Due in part to this concern, as well as my more subjective preference for the feel of a responsive manual transmission car over a hybrid’s automatic transmission, I’ve opted for a Fiat as my next car. It will be interesting to experiment and observe as I aim to change my own driving behavior…