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05-23-06, 09:35 PM
This is one of two articles I wrote as an audition piece for a temporary guest spot in the Denver Post's Perspectives section. I was not selected, and the articles were not published, so I thought I'd put them up here. Both of the articles (especially this one) are related to cycling and living car-free.
Can we get quit of our “oil addiction”?
I don't claim to know much about politics, but if pressed I might describe myself as a conservative. I did vote for George W. Bush in the 2000 election - but not in the 2004 election. I don't agree with a lot of what he's done, or much of what he continues to do. But he's getting a few things right. In the President’s recent State of the Union address, he stated that America is addicted to oil. He's starting to sound like some folks I know.
I am a frequent visitor and poster to the Living Car Free sub-forum of the Bike Forums website (http://www.bikeforums.net). Posters on this forum include those who would like to be car-free or at least use their cars less, and are looking for tips, advice, and help; and those who are car-free, there to discuss challenges and solutions, and provide moral support for both other car-free members and those who are trying. Opinions range from rabid anti-car to "we should all drive less". Some feel that personal use vehicles are far from efficient for use in urban areas, some feel the "car culture" has destroyed the America that once was. A common belief, however, seems to be that we as a nation use too much oil and are too dependent on it and its suppliers.
Here, however, may be where the shared beliefs of the forum members and the President end. Bush, in his address, made mention of alternative energy sources, including ethanol, “clean” coal, solar, wind and nuclear power sources. But perhaps most striking to some was the mention of automobiles: “We must also change how we power our automobiles. We will increase our research in better batteries for hybrid and electric cars, and in pollution-free cars that run on hydrogen.”
Note there was no suggestion for us to drive less. No urge to carpool or use public transit. Nothing that would reduce our dependence on the automobile, just on the oil we currently use to power it. Is that oil dependency the only problem caused by America’s love of automobiles? Depends on who you ask.
Another generally held belief among some members of the Living Car Free forum, is that the design of our cities, with urban centers surrounded by outlying suburbs, forces us to make use of automobiles more than should be necessary. If even large cities were designed as smaller towns have been layed out for years, most people would have easy, close access to all the services they would need on a daily basis. Certainly reducing automobile use would reduce oil use, whether or not we developed alternative energy sources for our cars. It could also reduce the energy expended in the installation and maintenance of so many roads, streets, and highways, not to mention the manufacturing and distribution of automobiles and gasoline.
Is this the solution? Well, maybe part of it. Major changes to the current infrastructure are unlikely. It will take a willingness to try something different from the status quo to incorporate this type of thinking into new planning. And it will certainly take a willingness to try, and an effort to change, for We The People to move from driving everywhere to only driving when really necessary. But it can be done. There is a tiny minority out there that are doing it.
I don't demand or even suggest that anyone get rid of their automobile. I can't claim to know most peoples' situations well enough to claim that they could easily make less use of their car. But if I can inspire someone else to try, or help them overcome challenges they face in doing so, I feel that’s beneficial. And I’d certainly like to see a nation where everyone can choose whether to own a car or not – rather than feeling forced to by limitations of location.
Can we get quit of our “oil addiction”?
I don't claim to know much about politics, but if pressed I might describe myself as a conservative. I did vote for George W. Bush in the 2000 election - but not in the 2004 election. I don't agree with a lot of what he's done, or much of what he continues to do. But he's getting a few things right. In the President’s recent State of the Union address, he stated that America is addicted to oil. He's starting to sound like some folks I know.
I am a frequent visitor and poster to the Living Car Free sub-forum of the Bike Forums website (http://www.bikeforums.net). Posters on this forum include those who would like to be car-free or at least use their cars less, and are looking for tips, advice, and help; and those who are car-free, there to discuss challenges and solutions, and provide moral support for both other car-free members and those who are trying. Opinions range from rabid anti-car to "we should all drive less". Some feel that personal use vehicles are far from efficient for use in urban areas, some feel the "car culture" has destroyed the America that once was. A common belief, however, seems to be that we as a nation use too much oil and are too dependent on it and its suppliers.
Here, however, may be where the shared beliefs of the forum members and the President end. Bush, in his address, made mention of alternative energy sources, including ethanol, “clean” coal, solar, wind and nuclear power sources. But perhaps most striking to some was the mention of automobiles: “We must also change how we power our automobiles. We will increase our research in better batteries for hybrid and electric cars, and in pollution-free cars that run on hydrogen.”
Note there was no suggestion for us to drive less. No urge to carpool or use public transit. Nothing that would reduce our dependence on the automobile, just on the oil we currently use to power it. Is that oil dependency the only problem caused by America’s love of automobiles? Depends on who you ask.
Another generally held belief among some members of the Living Car Free forum, is that the design of our cities, with urban centers surrounded by outlying suburbs, forces us to make use of automobiles more than should be necessary. If even large cities were designed as smaller towns have been layed out for years, most people would have easy, close access to all the services they would need on a daily basis. Certainly reducing automobile use would reduce oil use, whether or not we developed alternative energy sources for our cars. It could also reduce the energy expended in the installation and maintenance of so many roads, streets, and highways, not to mention the manufacturing and distribution of automobiles and gasoline.
Is this the solution? Well, maybe part of it. Major changes to the current infrastructure are unlikely. It will take a willingness to try something different from the status quo to incorporate this type of thinking into new planning. And it will certainly take a willingness to try, and an effort to change, for We The People to move from driving everywhere to only driving when really necessary. But it can be done. There is a tiny minority out there that are doing it.
I don't demand or even suggest that anyone get rid of their automobile. I can't claim to know most peoples' situations well enough to claim that they could easily make less use of their car. But if I can inspire someone else to try, or help them overcome challenges they face in doing so, I feel that’s beneficial. And I’d certainly like to see a nation where everyone can choose whether to own a car or not – rather than feeling forced to by limitations of location.