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An Oily Warning
Friday, June 11, 2010
As oil keeps billowing into the Gulf of Mexico, the nation’s attention is focused on yet another of the significant consequences of our overdependence on fossil fuels and overreliance on inefficient technologies. While we hope that the gusher can be safely plugged or diverted as quickly as possible, we have to recognize that every crisis presents an opportunity to shift our society onto a course that will minimize the chances of such devastation occurring again. The spill is a wake-up call that what’s at stake when it comes to transportation policy is the quality of our lives, and those of the ecosystems on which we depend.
Financial Times columnist Philip Stephens says President Obama must use this opportunity “to shape a new conversation about the unavoidable links between oil spills, climate change and sustainable economic growth.” “If the world’s richest nation and biggest oil consumer is not ready to curb the greenhouse emissions that cause global warming,” he cautions, “no one else, least of all China, is going to make the switch to a low carbon economy.”
As the Senate prepares to take up a major energy and climate change measure, the way for which was paved by yesterday’s vote, we need to remind Senators that the revenue generated by a carbon levy on transportation fuels ought to support the development of the most efficient, Earth-friendly form of motorized transport—passenger trains. Revenues from the transportation system should go towards programs like TIGER that use competitive bidding to steer federal dollars to where they can have the most impact in enhancing the quality, while shrinking the carbon footprint, of the US transportation system—along with direct investment in passenger rail, both through the states and through Amtrak.
The longer we wait before taking serious steps towards a saner transportation system, the more the economic, social and environmental price tag of the status quo goes up.
—Malcolm Kenton