It may seem like the distant past, but there was once a time when two car garages and clogged highways were not the American norm.
Although a return to the pre-car past, which had a number of its own shortcomings, is virtually impossible, Gov. Jim Doyle took an important step in reviving the railroad in Wisconsin and throughout the region this week after signing the Midwest Passenger Rail Compact. Now it is time for the federal government to do its part and contribute funding to the program.
Critics and cynics point to the already pinched federal budget and question whether millions of dollars should be used on such an ambitious undertaking. Their position is shortsighted and lacking in historical perspective.
It was largely with the help of the U.S. government and its determined construction of the interstate-highway system that the automotive industry rose to prominence, turning the car into the most important of all American possessions. Ultimately, increased reliance on the automobile put the railroads out of business. At present, we are left with a system of crowded and decaying roads, a multitude of cars and a true threat to national happiness: mind-numbing traffic.
More importantly, the rapid expansion of our automotive culture has led to uncontrolled consumption, irrefutable and damaging pollution and an insatiable thirst for oil. Complaints about rising gas prices are common.
Unfortunately, for everyone but the car companies and the current administration, honest expositions of the true cost of our oil addiction - in money, in uneasy alliances and now in American lives - are less frequent. That, however, is changing, as is the previous ignorance of global warming and its direct relationship to the cars we drive.
As supporters of the compact have already noted, Americans are happy to take trains instead of cars if provided with an efficient and cost-effective option. There are many programs to which the federal government could rightly refuse funding in order to increase support of alternative transportation.
A 10-state agreement that seeks to address one of the biggest logistical and environmental problems facing the nation while at the same time preserving and encouraging the transportation that is vital to the economy should not be refused. It is plain to see that our existing methods have led us to a painful and expensive dead end. There is another way, and those in Washington must now step up.
