Patrick McSweeney


 

Driving Blindfolded

The Commonwealth's auto-centric transportation policies have made Virginians increasingly vulnerable to swings in the price of oil and events in the Middle East.


 

For decades, there has been much bold talk from politicians about achieving U.S. energy independence. But the situation has gotten worse, not better.

 

U.S. crude oil output peaked in 1970 and has been waning steadily since, despite aggressive efforts to develop new domestic sources. Our demand for oil has increased sharply since Saudi Arabia and other OPEC nations cut off oil supplies to the U.S. in 1973, which prompted President Richard Nixon to announce a goal of U.S. energy independence by 1980. Today, more than half of the oil consumed in the U.S. is imported.

 

The U.S. Department of Energy was established in 1977 primarily to spearhead the campaign for energy independence. DOE now estimates that U.S. oil production will meet less than a third of the nation’s needs by 2020, and says this imbalance “will inevitably undermine our economy, our standard of living, and our national security.”

 

Strong words indeed, but our leaders have failed to act on them.

 

What does this have to do with Virginia politics? It is central to the decisions facing the General Assembly on funding transportation.

 

State Sen. John Chichester, R-Stafford, has said he will propose an increase in taxes to raise billions of dollars for new highway construction. This is akin to a drug addict injecting ever stronger dosages to achieve a high when he should know that his addiction is ruining his health.

 

One recent report highlights our problem. The Energy Future Coalition, a bipartisan group of energy analysts and representatives of industry, labor and non-profit organizations, concluded that the transportation sector accounts for approximately two-thirds of the nation’s oil consumption and that, because of our heavy dependence on imported oil and the political volatility in the Middle East, there is a strong link between transportation policy and national security. The coalition recommends government incentives for advanced fuel-saving technologies and aggressive development of alternative fuels.

 

Even if those recommendations were implemented, the U.S. would not adequately reduce its dependence on imported oil. The coalition, therefore, recommends policies to constrain vehicle-miles traveled in automobiles, including land use policies that reduce the need to drive.

 

Almost 20 years ago, the General Assembly confronted a similar decision point. At a 1986 special session, Gov. Gerald L. Baliles proposed and the legislature approved an increase in sales, motor fuels and other taxes to generate billions of dollars for a program of highway construction. In April, 1988 — only a year after the tax increase went into effect — a study by the Virginia Transportation Research Council, which is jointly sponsored by the Virginia Department of Transportation and the University of Virginia, found that congestion would continue to worsen considerably even with the Baliles expanded highway construction program.

 

The Baliles program failed principally because it dramatically increased total vehicle-miles traveled. A decade after that program commenced, vehicle-miles traveled had risen by 46 percent, while the state population increased by only 16 percent. Ironically, this was used by some as justification for even greater spending for new roads.

 

Retiring Virginia Secretary of Transportation Whitt Clement, to his credit, has declared repeatedly that the Commonwealth can’t build its way out of congestion. Chichester and others obviously don’t agree. Among those “others” is the politically powerful Virginia Transportation Construction Alliance, whose members are certain to play a major role in the 2005 elections.

 

This sets up a major election year contest that will be examined in greater detail in my next column.

 

-- March 14, 2005  

 

 
 

 

Contact Information

 

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Richmond, VA 23219
(804) 783-6802

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