[Tiktaalik]

> But the U.S. economy is still more reliant on oil than others: U.S. oil intensity is twice as high as the European Union and 40% higher than China’s, according to Rosemary Kelanic, director of the Middle East Program at think tank Defense Priorities. This is largely because the U.S. doesn’t have much public transportation or electric-vehicle adoption.

A painful reminder of the harsh costs of automobile dependency.

We've had the solutions to get off this rollercoaster since the 19th century, but weird ideologues continue to throw up barriers to any and all change. The reality is that enabling the alternatives wouldn't just limit climate change, but save us money too.

[Kapura]

It's not just the ideologues; it's the people with vested interests in seeing oil companies continue to dominate. Lindsey Graham has been pretty mask-off in wanting to take control of Iran's oil resources and, in his words, "make a ton of money."

[1] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/9/we-are-going-make-a-...

[throw0101c]

> Lindsey Graham has been pretty mask-off in wanting to take control of Iran's oil resources and, in his words, "make a ton of money."

Which kind of set all of this off back in the day: UK/US oil companies controlled Iranian oil, the legislature nationalized it, the Shah suppressed the legislature and portions of the population:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d%27état

the population got tired of being pushed down, and so eventually fought back:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Revolution

[karakoram]

I find it utterly amazing that a country like the USA does not have nationwide high-speed rail and mass transit in every major city (that works for everyone).

Comparing with Asia (Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia) and certain EU countries (Vienna, Netherlands, etc.), it just shocks me how much people need a car for everything. Even a visitor needs to rent a car to properly go about their business.

[xnoreq]

Didn't know Vienna was a country.

[karakoram]

I am sure you understood what I meant.

[zombot]

When the greed of the powerful rules everything, progress has to take a back seat.

[jjav]

> ideologues

Ideologues? No, profit at all cost and oil companies are particularly powerful in politics. Everything else follows from that.

[dyauspitr]

Automobiles also run on electricity, there’s no need to bundle them up with fossil fuels. Car centric development is awesome. Big backyards, lots of space, convenient setups with parking attached to each shopping center. What’s not to like? It’s definitely better than living in apartments which are essentially cages where you’re forced to be mild mannered. Places like shenzen are 90% EVs and we’ll get there too.

[Tiktaalik]

All those things are awesome (if you're into that sort of thing, many people aren't) but they don't really rely on the car. Many of the low density detached home suburbs that people drive to these days were once upon a time street car suburbs.

But answering the question, "what's not to like?" The main thing is the fact that none of this scales. All the good benefits you're describing rely on the fact that other people aren't doing them. Other people need to live in "cages" so that you can have all this extra space.

Similarly an enjoyable experience in a car free of traffic relies on other people not driving. If all the people that are using transit were driving a single car, the traffic congestion would spike and you'd be in misery.

None of it scales due to the unchangable dynamics of physical geometry.

[FarmerPotato]

> If all the people that are using transit were driving a single car

I was anticipating a punch line?

"It would reach halfway to the Moon"

or "it would be a very crowded train car".

[Tiktaalik]

lol oops