The Eureka Reporter ran an editorial this morning betraying their deep misunderstanding of transportation and energy issues. “Offshore oil — now” makes a few arguments for opening up offshore drilling on the continental shelf. While they make some incorrect assertions with regard to what effect offshore drilling would have on oil markets, the statement they write about transportation is laughably incorrect:

“The ultra-environmentalists’ goal is to reduce industrial production and shrink the economy. Depriving the nation of its own oil is part of their prescription. They figure if the price goes up enough, Americans will stop driving and ride the bus. This kind of social engineering has been tried before and failed because human beings did not respond as the engineers intended.”

There are several errors in the italicized part of this statement, so let’s go through them.

1) First, are increasing prices social engineering? No, they reflect supply and demand for a commodity because of underlying geological realities. The oil left in the ground at this point is harder to extract, and demand continues to rise, particularly in India and China. The Oil Drum has tomes of information on this issue written by oil industry experts, so I won’t belabor oil market issues here.

2) Will Americans stop driving and start riding the bus? Yes, they already have. In recent months, transit ridership has jumped by five to ten percent nation-wide. Ridership on our very own Redwood Transit System has been running about 20-30% over what it was last year.

3) Have engineers intended for people to drive less? Not in the United States. Because traffic engineers in the United States are bound to use a document called the Institute of Traffic Engineers handbook (link) which is based on very shaky data, they generally overbuild automobile infrastructure. Traffic reduction strategies are taboo to United States traffic engineers although they are used widely in Europe.

4) Have humans responded to engineering that encourages them to drive less? Absolutely. There are many cities in Germany, Denmark, Holland and France where driving is 20 to 30 percent of the mode share (contrasting with 95% in the U.S.). This has been achieved through a suite of strategies involving land use, street engineering, and taxation strategies.

Let’s get back to that stuff about “ultra-environmentalists” trying to shrink the economy. This organization hasn’t taken any position on oil exploration, but whether we drill or not, gas prices will continue to climb. This is a global geological and economic issue that this oil-importing nation is slowly waking up to.

Green Wheels’ goal is to strengthen the economy. Humboldt County’s automobile-dependent land use and transportation system is like a toilet we flush money down. For every dollar we spend on automobile transport, only $0.30 re-circulates in the economy. The rest goes south to pay for imported fuel, cars, parts and insurance provided by non-local businesses. This adds up to about $400 million lost from our economy every year. Since walking, biking and transit are so much cheaper, relying on them results in more money spent locally, or invested to generate wealth. On top of that, the money that is spent on transit re-circulates in the economy more, with $1 spent generating $1.40 of recirculation (Victoria Transportation Policy Institute).

So which is the better economic growth model, automobile dependence that we have generated in the U.S., or the “social engineering” of Europe’s balanced transportation system? Just take a look at the dollar compared to the Euro, and decide for yourself.