Mass Transit, Oil, and American Patriotism
Interesting piece in the June 6th issue of The American Conservative about mass transit, lamenting the Bush administration's proposed 2006 budget to eliminate funding for Amtrak (no link available). The article makes a strong case for continued funding. The premise is that it's not just Amtrak that will be crippled, but many metro commuter lines that rely on Amtrak's infrastructure. Moreover, new train lines into urban areas are attracting people back to the cities, thus potentially reducing suburban sprawl.
The author also points out that it's not an issue of free market v. government support. For almost a hundred years, the federal government has pumped billions and billions of dollars into roads, which is a subsidy of automobiles. The government gave barely nothing to train lines until 1980. "The current imbalance between automobiles and transit is a classic product of government interference in the marketplace. Today, all modes of transportation are subsidized, but the cars are subsidized for more heavily than trains."
We also wonder: Doesn't mass transit decrease our need for oil? We watched a debate on Fox yesterday about whether the government should release its oil reserves. One fact kept jumping out: we need foreign oil, and without it, our economy, way of life, and security would be crippled. In addition, our use of oil subsidizes terrorism.
If that's the case, why isn't the country on the Carter-era kick of asking everyone to scale back on their gasoline use? We're not proposing a government mandate, just maybe a few words from Bush at the bully pulpit and an effort to instill a general sense of how conservation helps our country. The "Minutemen" think it's their patriotic duty to patrol our borders, and most of us cheer their patriotism. Is it too much to ask the rest of us to pick a day of the week to ride with a friend to work? Or maybe to forego the SUV in favor of a more gasoline-friendly vehicle? Or to ride a bicycle to the store or maybe even get a motorcycle for short single-person trips (being patriotic could be cool and good for attracting chicks).
We fear we sound like Greenpeace at this point, but if oil is such a crutch, why aren't we being asked to curtail our use a little? The administration says we're in a "war on terror." Well then, let's respond accordingly. Rations during war are common. Perhaps it's time for a little voluntary rationing.
