Political Developments in Climate Change

Normally we don’t focus too much on the over-arching questions of climate change, especially with regards to transportation, but there have been a couple of recent developments on the greater political front worth noting.First, on the Canadian front, one of the most conservative and libertarian Canadian provinces, Alberta, is moving in a very green direction with a high-speed rail proposed to link Calgary and Edmonton, the two biggest cities in the province. Where oil is as big as it is in Texas, one might think that the proposal of high-speed rail might be met with as much derision as, say, a Toyota plant in Detroit. Yet the idea seems to be gaining traction, and for two good reasons, leaving aside purely altruistic environmental reasons. One is that it seems unlikely that the fortunes of oil are going to drop and Alberta’s revenue from such is unlikely to go down either, especially if oil prices start to make reclamation of oil from shale economical. The second is that oil will eventually run out, and the best thing that oil-rich areas can do is prepare themselves for that eventuality. The high prices of oil might be good for the local economy, but eventually the oil economy is going to collapse, and Alberta is working to make sure that it’s as small a part of the equation before that happens.Pursuing that same philosophy, President Bush signed a sweeping energy bill this month, dramatically increasing automotive fuel efficiency standards as its headline-grabbing provision. The mandated increase is the largest since the 1970s energy crisis and, thankfully, it did not take an artificial oil shortage to make it happen–just an historic spike in energy prices. If the US is likewise going to minimize the oil economy and any damage that might come from its collapse, minimizing usage is going to be the first basic step. Critical to that is forcing the auto industry into applying expensive, fuel-saving technologies to its large-scale, profit-leading vehicles such as SUVs and minivans. Despite their protests, an increase in CAFE standards is one of the few ways the government can make that happen.Another intriguing provision in the bill is the gradual banning of incandescent light bulbs. Maybe a waste of legislation, but certainly seems to be one of those things where legislation is going to follow commercial trends. Compact fluorescents, LEDs, and even LECs (Light-Emitting Capacitors) are capturing the public’s attention and dollar, and it’s likely that the market for incandescent bulbs would likely be minimal within five years anyway. Still, nice to see that the government is paying attention to the need for changes in building standards.

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