U.S. President Barack Obama recently spoke of constructing a very good transit system. He was visiting Buffalo in upstate New York, a city that has been badly hit by the current economic crisis. Obama was worried about the fuel prices. Wondering if he was going to blame the Indians once again? Luckily, the President did not repeat his ‘Buffalo to Bangalore’ speech, but did say something else. He said that Indians and Chinese are increasingly buying new cars and this will be putting a lot of pressure on fossil fuel.
Obama favours public transportation and not individual cars for commutation. He feels mass transit system would be good for the environment. Oh, Mr. Obama, then is that why you asked for a hybrid limo for yourself? The U.S. President feels oil prices will go up and down. The prices may vary every year. But, he knows for sure that no matter what they do, oil prices are going to be going up over the long term. We too agree with the fact. Not just oil, prices of almost every other commodity is going to go high. But why blame Indians and the Chinese?
“You’re not always clear what’s going on, but the long-term trend is just because countries like China — they’re starting to buy cars and countries like India are starting to buy cars, and so the demand on petroleum and fossil fuels are going to be greater and greater — we’ve got to get a first-class transit system,” Obama said. Mr. Obama, we wish you good luck with the transit system.
“We don’t have one right now. We used to be at the top. Now you’ve got China — they’re building multiple high-speed rail lines all across the country, leaving us behind. But it’s not just transit. It’s our ports, our airports, our sewer systems, our water systems. We’re going to figure out how do we make those kinds of long-term investments, but do so in a way that doesn’t increase our deficit, and that’s going to be a challenge, but I think it’s going to be a priority,” said the US President.
Last year, he had announced end to years of tax incentives to those U.S. companies which create jobs overseas in places like Bangalore. He had said, “It’s a tax code that says you should pay lower taxes if you create a job in Bangalore, India, than if you create one in Buffalo, New York.” Now, these incentives go to companies that create jobs for those in the U.S. Now, it looks like something is seriously wrong. Obama also said that the economist must have juggled with the figure to declare that recession has ended; and the stock market might have bounced back.
As of now, the U.S. has 950 cars per 1000 people. In India, we just have 8 cars for every 1000 people. Yes of course, India is developing and we are buying more and more cars. But, don’t you think these small cars that we buy consume lesser fuel and pollute the environment lesser than the big monstrous gas guzzlers that use 80 per cent of the roads in the U.S. every day? Is it just the Americans that have owning cars as their birthright? Even ladies in the U.S. drive huge pick-up trucks and SUVs to work. Hatchbacks are seldom seen on roads. The Volkswagen Beetle may be the smallest car there.
USA still eats up 25 per cent of the electricity generated and is the largest consumer of paper products. The country promotes recycling, but loads of ships turn up to dump garbage on the landfills of developing countries and with radioactive waste at times. Please stop the blame game, Mr. Obama!
