Breakthrough

By Natasha Yurk, Breakthrough Generation Summer Fellow

Last Saturday marked the first day that the U.S. spent $1 million per minute on oil. At the same time, the dollar is trading at a record low vis-a-vis the euro. Storm's a brewin'! According to Jack D. Hidary, chair of SmartTransportation.org and the Freedom Prize Foundation, these "milestones" indicate America's need to invest in a clean energy transportation future.

How can we get ourselves out of this mess? This crisis will take nothing short of a restructuring of our core industrial and transport sectors. Just as a turnaround CEO comes in to fix a troubled company, we need a retooling to rid ourselves of oil dependency. We do not need politicians looking for fake fixes such as a summer gas tax holiday.

The problem is clear -- 55% of all the oil we use in the US is guzzled by cars and SUVs. Not planes, not trains, not big trucks. To find the problem look no further than your driveway. Yes, the fleet of 245 million cars and SUVs that we drive in the US -- that is the main problem.

The responses to Hidary's piece, posted on The Huffington Post and then on Gristmill, are understandably all over the map. We need walkable cities, more high speed rail, European cars, fewer auto industry investments, lower speed limits, etc. etc. One thing is clear from all of these comments, however: we need a new outlook.

We need to live in a world in which clean transportation isn't a product of legal paternalism, but of the public will. I've played around with a lot of these suggestions myself, and am convinced that "the right thing to do" isn't very compelling; but a solid recommendation coupled with strong support is an unbeatable combination.

Why not inspire Americans with the idea that our national and personal economic growth do not have to be mutually-exclusive of climate wellness? Why not fire ourselves up into meeting a serious challenge with new (dare I say, breakthrough) technologies and world leadership? There are reasons not to, but Americans are more extraordinary than that.

Hidary is correct in saying that we need something new. Now, more than ever, it is time for a new American energy.