Thursday, July 5, 2007

All About Oil

So they finally admit what we knew all along. The Iraq war is about oil. This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone but it does bring up an interesting question. I've stated before how much capital the money from the Iraq War could have generated for transit. By today's count, it's $440 billion. At $50 million per mile on average, that's 8,800 miles of light rail or 220 miles in each of the largest 40 cities. As i've said before, its an oversimplification of costs but the idea of comparison gives me an understanding of what is being spent. I think we could have reduced our oil dependency by electrifying our railroads, even freight and building extensive transit networks in every city. Instead we decided to go on the path of war. Why we are still pursuing these policies to drive our cars on cheap oil is beyond me. Was it worth it?

No comments: