LaHood Is The Wrong Choice

What was Obama thinking when he picked Ray LaHood as transportation secretary? This man is one of the least qualified to head a department with such an integral role in reducing global warming. Barack Obama has already been under criticism for his roads heavy stimulus package, but the appointment of this man shows the government agency for transportation will be looking towards 1950s solutions to fix the transportation crisis.

Obama recognizes that transportation planning is directly related to global warming and other pollution, so why would he put a man in office that seems to lack such understanding? LaHood has received over 100,000 dollars in donations from energy and automobile interests, such as the Petroleum Marketers Association. A search on Wikipedia has no political experience on any subcommittees related to transit. It is as if Obama has said “Nobody cares about the DOT so lets give the GOP a bone.”

However LaHood has sponsored some legislation that at least shows a minimal effort to look at alternative forms of transit. He cosponsored a bill to recognize the importance of bicycling for health and recreation but it fails to acknowledge a link to cleaner air, plus that’s about the only positive transportation bill he’s sponsored in the past two congresses. However those are outweighed as he also cosponsored a bill supporting using forests for bio fuel, investing in liquid coal (which has been found to be the biggest global warming contributor), and lastly he voted for June 30th to be “National Corvette Day.”

One of the main reasons I was so excited about an Obama administration was that I felt he would change America from an auto-dependent country to one that rivaled Europe in terms of alternatives. While certaintly better than what Bush adminstration has done for alternative transit, this vision is hardly visionary.

Republicans Hate Anything That’s Not a Car

It started with Patrick McHenry (R-NC) mocking those who use bikes for their daily commute. It was in an interview after HR 2776 was passed, which among other transit improvements and incentives included a $20 tax credit for riding your bike to work. And here’s what he said:

“A major component of the Democrats’ energy legislation and the Democrats’ answer to our energy crisis is, hold on, wait one minute, wait one minute, it is promoting the use of the bicycle.

Oh, I cannot make this stuff up. Yes, the American people have heard this. Their answer to our fuel crisis, the crisis at the pumps, is: Ride a bike.

Democrats believe that using taxpayer funds in this bill to the tune of $1 million a year should be devoted to the principle of: “Save energy, ride a bike.” Some might argue that depending on bicycles to solve our energy crisis is naive, perhaps ridiculous. Some might even say Congress should use this energy legislation to create new energy, bring new nuclear power plants on line, use clean coal technology, energy exploration, but no, no. They want to tell the American people, stop driving, ride a bike. This is absolutely amazing.

Apparently, the Democrats believe that the miracle on two wheels that we know as a bicycle will end our dependence on foreign oil. I cannot make this stuff up. It is absolutely amazing.

Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you the Democrats, promoting 19th century solutions to 21st century problems. If you don’t like it, ride a bike. If you don’t like the price at the pumps, ride a bike.

Stay tuned for the next big idea for the Democrats: Improving energy efficiency by the horse and buggy.”

Text from Sreetsblog

But now the secretary of the Department of Transportation, the very people who are supposed to invest in multiple forms of transit, is calling bikes a non valid transportation form. Of course she was further supporting Bush’s view that the gas tax should not be raised, because congress wastes the money that is gathered from it. Apparently one of the ways it’s wasted is by getting cars off the road, by investing in proper safety for bicyclists.

“You know, I think Americans would be shocked to learn that only about 60 percent of the gas tax money that they pay today actually goes into highway and bridge construction. Much of it goes in many, many other areas.

And as we don’t — we’re not disciplined today to say, are we spending that money where it is the highest and best use of that money? Are we giving the American public the best return on investment for that money? And we owe it to ourselves to answer those questions before we ask Americans to dig down in their pockets and pay even more gas tax.”

Text from PBS

One of the things highway users complain of, is traffic congestion. But imagine that 40 percent of the money goes to alternatives - those alternatives are keeping people of roads, reducing congestion, and overall helping the interstate system to run more efficiently. But of course when you’re payed by the car lobby, the only transit that makes sense is motor vehicle based.