Solar, wind, and geothermal sources - alongside efficient, pumped hydrologic storage - will supply the entire nation with energy for as long as the sun shines. We can forget about oil wars and oil spills. Gate duties will tip the economics toward renewables once all the costs of fossil fuels are added in. Coupled with streetcar and light-rail systems - and eventually high speed trains - deployed on the public roadways, Americans can make cars optional for most trips, leaving what oil remains for intercontinental air travel and long-driving vacations, where there is no real alternative.Īnd having implemented a program of roads to rails, we can finally benefit from the massive, relatively unexploited, renewable energy resources of the nation. Bicycling is the fastest growing transportation mode on the planet. It is a blessing to walk or bike to work. ĭensity also frees people to move in different ways. Urban America will lead the economy of the future with innovation that rises from working together. Based on an oil price of USD 30 per barrel, the International Energy Agency projects that oil and gas revenues for a number of key producers will fall by between 50 to 85 in 2020, compared with 2019, yet the losses could be larger depending on future market developments (IEA, 2020 1). Manhattan-like density is not required, but more density than most suburbs have is. Everyone deserves a great town to live in, with enough people in a place to make jobs and wealth for young and old talent. Gate duties will help us rebuild America's towns and cities. They stand at the gate between the economy and the rest of nature. The more resources you use, and the more waste you create, the more you pay.
The way to make nature matter to the economy is to shift taxes off of income and sales and onto natural-resource use and waste instead. In America, we assume them, we don't cherish them, at least when it comes to our economy. If you're a topical expert - researcher, business leader, author or innovator - and would like to contribute an op-ed piece, email us here. The necessity of obtaining oil, whether from the Middle East or Canadian tar sands or deep water horizons, brings us terrible things: wars, terrorism, climate change, broken landscapes and polluted shores. Cars depend on oil, which is no longer cheap - financially or ecologically. Our current way of living is a trap, a siren song, calling us deeper and deeper into economic, environmental and social peril. We ate a lot of turkeys.īut if the oil-car-suburbs economy worked for the Baby Boom generation, it's destroying the country now. Why dredge up all this ancient history on Thanksgiving ? Because cheap oil, cheap cars and cheap land within commuting distance of downtown generated American wealth and power in the last century. Sanderson and Pentagram Design, Terra Nova (Abrams), 2013)
Great cities provide opportunities for transportation, shopping, employment and recreation - all within easy walking distance.
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