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Energy crisis - what we never think...

The U.S's dependence of foreign oil has been in the headlines of major newspapers for quite sometime now. There have been many views on what needs to be done to reduce this heavy dependence on outside enrgy supplied. Here's another off-beat idea..

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We are all well informed by now, about the looming crisis beckoning our energy (or rather, shall I say, oil?) industry. America's dependence on foreign oil and our need to produce alternative fuel sources – whether it's from Ethanol, nuclear, solar or thermal – and their pros and cons have been well debated and studied by pundits, at least recently. President Bush's push for Ethanol and an increase in the strategic petroleum reserve are welcome notes and definitely a first step.

There's one aspect of the energy crisis that we Americans tend to forget. If I were to tell it in one word, all of you would look at me with your brows raised! Hence let me draw your attention to Europe and Australia, where the streets and roads are much narrower than in our country. In Europe or Australia, the one thing that's definitely better than here, is the usage – by the people – and the operation (by the Govt.) of public transportation facilities. Apart from New York, Washington D.C, some select cities of Northeast, Chicago (and may be California to some extent) are the only parts in our nation, which can boast of good public transportation facilities.

Now, how does this relate to saving energy? Well, taking public transportation, or at least car-pooling would help a long way in saving fuels. Imagine four people going from the same neighborhood, driving thirty miles, to work at the same location. Instead of taking four sedans (or SUVs, thanks to our love for the 'big boys') everyday, we could take only one sedan and save a lot on gas. Considering a workweek of five days and a year of forty-five weeks, our total save in mileage per year, would be over twenty thousand miles. (3 people* 5days * 45 weeks * 30 miles = 20,250 miles per year). Considering that an average car gives a mileage of thirty, we would have saved six hundred and seventy five gallons of gas per year. And that's just because four people with like-minded needs decided to carpool! Imagine what would happen if at least a hundred more people decided to use public transportation? As John Lennon might say, “Imagine…if all the people…took public transportation…”

Taking public transportation has other advantages as well. Not only do you save yourself from the perils of the traffic, you could do some enjoyable things while in transit. You could prepare yourself for the all-important meeting with a client, freshen your mind by listening to a song, or you could simply read the Washington Post to enrich your knowledge. Also, this is akin to ‘outsourcing’ your commute to the professional. Why take out a snarling curse at the traffic and put negative thoughts in your system, when you could simply take a moment to relax in the public transportation facilities? This could also go a great deal in curbing our greenhouse gases, which scientists say, are at alarming levels.

Our public transportation system is not the best in the world, but, on the other hand, I agree that it could even be the worst in the developed world.

Also, there are myriads of problems with our public transportation – or lack of it – that we need to fix. It is still not a cent percent safe to travel in all the mass transit systems in the U.S. We need have security guards in place and also other measures like separate buses/compartments for children and women to ensure their safety. The sole responsibility of fixing all these does not lie with the Govt. alone, but also with all of us, especially in this democratic country.

I know that this is not a real solution to our energy crisis. But taking a cue from one of our corporations' punch lines, "energy saved is energy gained". And once the public transportation becomes well connected and reaches commendable levels of service, Govt. should encourage the people to use these facilities by tax cuts for a few years. People who drive less than 7,500 miles per year should be given tax breaks for say, three years.

Almost everyone seems to get some form of tax relief these days, so why not one more? Jokes apart, such incentives would definitely be useful for a large section of middle class. Thus we could kill two birds with one stone, even if it's by a meager amount – raise the middle class a bit and also conserve a lot of energy.

So far, I expressed my views on another way to conserve our energy.

Perhaps, you can out rightly dismiss it, or call it a 'lateral' or 'out of the box' thought. And these ideas are not easy to implement – but definitely easier than photovoltaic cells, solar, thermal, nuclear, wind or ethanol – and might take many years to yield positive results. However, as they say, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step". And the time has never been better to take that step, in the right direction.

About Author

Dayal Sukumaran holds a Bachelor of Technology degree in Mechanical Engineering. He works in Miami and is keen in current affairs. He enjoys listening to music, reading WSJ, NPR's all things considered & Marketplace. He strongly believes that everyone is good and it's just circumstances that make people bad. We have to work together to improve the circumstances for the benefit and betterment of humanity.

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Energy crisis - what we never think...