OPINION:
Americans have long had a love affair with the personal automobile. A car isn’t merely transportation. In American culture, it is a statement of who a person is and what they value. A small two-seat sports car may look great but isn’t nearly as practical as a minivan. Which one you choose to drive speaks volumes of your current place in life. The middle-aged playboy may relish tooling around in a Corvette, while the young Dad who coaches Little League may have a strong preference for the van.
It isn’t simply the make or model of a vehicle that matters either. Paint color, tire size, rim style and tinted windows may all give a peek into the driver’s personality.
This phenomenon isn’t new. A quick look through automotive history provides a glimpse at beloved classics of yesteryear. The ’57 Chevy, the ’65 Mustang and the 71 Ford Thunderbird all evoke some sort of reaction from those who lived in the era. Car shows and auto auctions put crazy prices on these relics, and people who can afford them pay happily while the rest of us dream and drool.
Americans’ love affair with their cars isn’t only for those driving a classic. It’s all about personal space. We all get frustrated when traffic gets heavy, but it seems the ability of each driver to choose his or her own temperature, seating and music makes such frustration worthwhile. Toss in the ability to maximize productivity by leaving or arriving on your own schedule, and it’s easy to understand why most folks prefer their own set of wheels.
The Energy and Efficiency Institute (EEI) at UC Davis, an institution that partners with the U.S. Department of Energy and the State of California Public Utilities Commission, among others, has recently issued a report that suggests a great benefit to reducing “car dependency.” For those who doubt whether this means our federal government may creatively make it more and more difficult for individuals to have their own vehicle, may I remind you that it is also the U.S. Department of Energy that is trying to justify taking away gas stoves?
Among the ways the EEI at UC Davis report suggests for decreasing personal car use substantially is expanding “high-density urban spaces,” meaning making the New York City and Chicagos of the world more commonplace. Despite the fact that the last generation of Americans chose to move away from high-density areas into suburban areas, UC Davis and the DOE apparently know better. They specifically call for “densifying” those suburban areas, making them the very thing they were created to escape. Despite the fact that every statistic known to mankind demonstrates urban areas have higher crime rates, the report suggests that making higher-density areas and forcing the use of public transportation may help create safer communities.
Defunding the police was allegedly going to make us safer too.
The liberals took their first step toward crushing our automobile fetish during the Obama years, passing unattainable miles per gallon (MPG) requirements for automakers. They carved out an exception for SUVs and pickup trucks. Car manufacturers created “crossover” vehicles that look remarkably similar to station wagons and slid them under the SUV category. Now nary a sedan is sold, not because there isn’t demand, but because the Obama-era regulations have forced it into being.
If you attended a car show this past year, you would have found the usual assortment of auto brands but nearly no variation at all in design. Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge, and Nissan all produce crossover vehicles that, absent the logo, look pretty much exactly like each other. Sadly, even the high-end manufacturers that used to get your blood pumping with their designs have fallen in line with the left’s agenda. Side view photos of Porsche and Maserati, for example, looked exactly like the Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge and Nissan. Bland and boring.
Taking away the ability for auto designers to get creative (how creative can you really get making station wagons?) cuts into the love affair. Take one look at the Ford Mustang Mach-E, the electric Mustang. From the side, it looks, well, exactly like every other car. It’s the least visually inspiring Mustang ever.
Toss in urban planning that suggests Boston, New York and Philadelphia housing should be even denser than they currently are, and you don’t just have a recipe for divorce in America’s love affair with cars, you’re going to make us a collective widow. The EEI at UC-Davis (a partner of DOE!) plan is a step toward killing the car.
Think about that. Do you relish the idea of hopping on the subway or city bus? Do you want to travel on someone else’s schedule? At a publicly determined temperature? Riding with strangers? But at least the metro is safer than your car, or so says EEI at UC Davis. Metropolitan statistics from coast to coast disagree but pay no attention to those.
In the zest for the illusory climate action now, we’re losing our soul. Americana is being sacrificed at the altar of some imaginary effort to save the planet. Even if the so-called science wasn’t questionable, the rest of the planet hasn’t signed on with even remotely similar action. For example, America has been using gas stoves for more than 100 years. More than 40% of homes have them, but a Biden appointee wants to ban them, so Department of Energy “research” has begun in an effort to determine if they are safe. The most efficient and effective way to cook is under attack.
They want to take your gas stove. Why? They are still working on that, but if you wait a few months, they’ll come up with an answer.
How many degrees will such action, taken exclusively in America, lower the world temperature? There is no answer to that on gas stoves, and neither the question nor an answer appears in the EEI at UC-Davis study. Just like the Biden administration’s plan for the government (taxpayer) to pay for 500,000 charging stations all around the country. It will cost tens of billions. How much will that plan lower world temperatures? Never mentioned. There is no science to back up these fantastical plans, only feel-good intentions.
We used to joke about blasting people back into the stone age. The Biden administration plans to make it happen, but instead of bombs, they will use regulations. There will be no more fire to cook on and no more wheel(s) to ride on. We can all live the life of a caveman in the name of progress.
• Tim Constantine is a columnist with The Washington Times.
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