The great American road trip is in peril
grist.org
grist.org
I would have liked to see a treatment of the title: is the roadtrip in peril because it’s not a sustainable activity? Ie road tripping (and energy use for travel writ large) contributes to climate change, so must either lead to ruin or be banned or otherwise made impossible. It is interesting that her wistfulness for the traditional road trip is probably exactly what her political opponents feel when opposing renewable energy sources.
They had an entire state that they were at risk driving through at all due to an emergency climate situation, which they had to drive through carefully, avoiding major corridors (including the very interstates that made the great American road trip what it was), and extending the time it took to get through that state to other destinations. It took a complex intersection of apps and live updated maps to navigate that crisis. The understated implication is sort of a "gone are the days where you could grab an analog AAA triptik or Rand McNally travel map and maybe memorize or pre-program a couple standard US Emergency AM station numbers as all you need to plan a safe road trip".
They had seasonal tourist businesses admit that their seasons are shrinking and/or being eliminated right before their eyes. The understated implication was a classic "last chance to see" lament.
Nothing to do with using sustainable energy to power the road trip, everything to do with classic and iconic parts of that road trip disappearing/dying/becoming harder to plan or see or do.
Author might also consider changing their vehicle's cabin air filter