This week the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is meeting to decide how much oil to produce to feed our addiction and avoid "demand destruction." The Washington Post defined this as "the phrase the oil industry uses to describe what happens when high prices push consumers into changing their habits and using less petroleum."
Oil producing nations like Saudi Arabia want high prices - but not so high we actually start reducing how much oil we use.
But $4/gallon gas and all of the devastating effects of oil on our health, economy and environment demand that we end our country's oil addiction. Doing this will require both personal steps and strong national policy.
Yesterday we saw the policy action as the Blue Green Alliance released its National Policy on Transportation aimed at building a 21st century transportation infrastructure that will revitalize our economy and give Americans smart transportation choices.
The BlueGreen Alliance (BGA) is a national, strategic partnership between labor unions and environmental organizations (the Sierra Club is a founding partner) dedicated to expanding the number and quality of jobs in the green economy.
Right now in America, our roads and bridges are crumbling, our rail infrastructure is inadequate, we're not doing enough to ensure the U.S. can be competitive globally in the 21st century, and unemployment is at nine percent. To be competitive and create good jobs, we must rebuild our transportation infrastructure.
BGA's National Transportation Policy (PDF) identifies key strategies for creating jobs and would:
--Modernize our nation's crumbling infrastructure;
--Make our transportation networks greener;
--Build cleaner vehicles that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and pollution, while reinvigorating the American auto industry;
--Support cleaning up our ports without putting the burden on truck drivers;
--Ensure that the jobs we create are good jobs.
The policy would also help move us beyond oil. Right now we spend more than $1 billion a day on foreign oil, and overall, transportation accounts for two out of every three barrels of oil we burn and produces nearly a third of our climate disrupting pollution. Enacting a 60 mile per gallon standards for new vehicles in 2025 will also surely send the signal that we are ready to move beyond oil.
As I said above - that's the national policy, but we also need personal action as well. That's why next week I'm joining people across the country to Dump the Pump on Thursday, June 16th. I'll join my friends, family and coworkers as we bike to work, or take public transportation to run errands.
Did you know public transportation saves 4.2 billion gallons of gas each year? That's 20 times the amount of oil spilled in the BP Gulf oil disaster!
Personal action and policy action. Americans are speaking out for transportation choices -- like more public transit -- that make our communities more livable and help get us off oil. Will you join us?