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The catastrophe is already upon us. Most scientific predictions give us less than 50 years, before we will become witness to some of the worst environmental disasters the world over. Even countries like the United States are not going to be immune from them. In fact they could be some of the worst sufferers if ‘Katrina’ and the orange harvest losses over last few years are any indication. Global warming is the direct result of fuel use (or rather misuse), and it is time that we, each one of us, do something substantial to protect ourselves (not others or the world) from the impending doom. Saving fuel and thereby reducing fossil fuel emission is definitely one of the most important strategies that we need to adopt without a second thought.
Countries, which are less privileged than the United States, like Japan, have already undertaken the transition to mass rapid transport. Not only it provides a healthy environment, it also saves time in transit, as public transport is usually faster. In addition it leads people to have more healthier habits like walking and cycling, that are so essential in maintaining health and preventing modern life style diseases like obesity, heart diseases, strokes and diabetes, which are some of the biggest killers in the United States today, and actually account most for its rising healthcare costs. It is hardly surprising then that the Japanese, who spend less than half of their American counterparts on health, live half a decade more than them. Having more public transport will not only improve environment, but also improve health status and reduce healthcare costs, which are one of the most important reasons for making the US industry uncompetitive today.
In economic terms, reducing oil consumption is a necessity that is even more immediate than the health effects. Oil imports are the primary reason of burgeoning trade imbalances of US. Almost half of the US trade deficit that is worth billions of dollars is with oil exporting countries, and it would be very foolish if authorities fail to see the root cause of the trade deficit problem, which is threatening the dollar and the very resilience of US economy.
Lastly, reducing the outflow of petro-dollars is also a strategic necessity if we really want to won the war on terror, because most of the terrorists are directly or indirectly financed by these petro dollars. It will be very naive for the Americans to first pay trillions in buying oil and then spend trillions again in defense to contain the terror that their own dollars bring to them. For the sake of their country as much as for the sake of global peace and the survival of the world, we need to shift en masse to public transport.