I submit that the expansion of the Mpls/St. Paul airport is a terrible waste of resources. I also submit that we must spend our transportation dollars on energy-efficient urban design and transportation modes. Consider this:
The airline industry burns some 18 billion gallons of jet fuel each year. As oil depletion runs its course, barrels of oil will get more expensive to extract in terms of dollars. More importantly, the energy returned will shrink in relation to the energy spent in extracting oil. Airlines are directly dependant upon jet fuel -- no substitute exists, and there are no fuel-efficient ways to move jumbo jets through the sky. Here are articles from the last few days related to the topic: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_04/b3917070_mz011.htm (Jan 24) "Waiting for the first Airline to Die" -- "rising fuel cost" is one of the causes listed here. http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/050119/airlines_earns_2.html "Airlines Hit Turbulence in Fourth Quarter" (Reuters, Jan 19) again, "rising fuel costs" are mentioned as a significant factor..... http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/050106/airlines_continental_5.html "Continental Air....Liquidity Problems" (Reuters, January 6) "record-high jet fuel costs" are again a significant factor Airlines are trying to compensate for rising fuel costs by forcing workers to accept pay cuts, but the industry will continue to shrink as fuel costs will only rise -- and are likely to rise sharply -- in the next few years. So why do we assume that we will see more flights in and out of our airport? We are likely to see fewer flights. Where do we spend our money to shape urban infrastructure? What should our priorities be? Take a look at Dr Mae-Wan Ho's article "The Food Bubble Economy" in The Institute of Science In Society's WebPages here: http://www.i-sis.org.uk/TFBE.php -- the article is actually a review of Lester R. Brown's "Plan B: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and A Civilization In Trouble," but includes plenty of insight along the way. Every citizen, every businessperson, every local political leader, and every representative of Minneapolis to the state and national governments needs to be aware of the fundamental issue which will shape our future. Energy depletion and environmental blowback will dwarf most of the issues which dominate our current public discourse. I would like to see our Mayoral and City Council candidates tell us this: how are we planning our urban infrastructure for the energy and environmental scenarios we are likely to face in the next twenty years? How will we avoid wasting huge sums of money on infrastructure projects which are predicated on an inexhaustible and cheap supply of petroleum, when the indicators clearly show that we will not have such a supply? I would really like fellow citizens, our candidates and current office-holders to read over this "Peak Oil Primer" from Energy bulletin, and tell us whether or not energy depletion issues need to be "front and center" in our public discourse. http://www.energybulletin.net/primer.php Again, the airport expansion is based on an assumption about energy resources which is contradicted by the facts about energy availability. We need to accommodate a shrinking airline industry and to develop local urban infrastructure which will serve us well as energy resources become more expensive. It seems to me that this is one of the most important issues we face. -- pedaling for peace and ecojustice from Kingfield -- Gary Hoover REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
