Letter to the Editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer,
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
The inability of the Pennsylvania legislature to devise adequate
funding for public transportation is but another sign of how far removed from reality Americans and their
elected representatives are. Of the
20 million barrels of oil a day that America consumes, 13 million are used by the transportation sector,
mostly for private cars. This is a criminal
waste of a valuable resource. Don't people realize that oil is an
essential feedstock to agriculture, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing,
and that when it's gone, it's gone for good?
The most important conversation in the world today concerns the probable date of "Hubbert's peak" -- when
world oil production (currently set at about 80 million barrels a day) will begin its irreversible decline. This
event will have devastating global consequences, particularly in the United States, which is woefully unprepared
for it.
It is a sad fact that a century's access to cheap and reliable fossil fuel energy has made us careless and
complacent. The defeat of public transit funding is another ominous sign that America has lost its way.
In the age that is coming, which will be one of diminishing resources and escalating energy prices, not
to support public transit is suicidal.
Caryl Johnston
Bryn Mawr
The Graph That Says It All
