| ▲ | gwerbin 4 hours ago | ||||||||||||||||
There are so many bad incentives all over the place in the USA, and it's not so much that cheap hydrocarbons create them as it fails to prevent them. Consider the gradual takeover of SUVs on the roads (many which to be fair are probably about as efficient as sedans were 20 years ago, albeit more expensive in real terms and significantly more dangerous for pedestrians), or the heavy reliance on trucking rather than rail for heavy freight transportation between logistics hubs, or the heavy reliance on air for long-distance travel due to having literally zero high-speed rail, or the fear of nuclear power, or the overt political opposition to green energy. | |||||||||||||||||
| ▲ | sarchertech 4 hours ago | parent [-] | ||||||||||||||||
The rest of that is true but the US moves a much higher percentage of its freight by rail than almost any large developed country. Just in comparison to Europe “46 percent of European freight goes by truck while only 11 percent goes by rail, while in the United States more than 40 percent goes by rail while just 30 percent goes on the highway." This is in ton-miles, so it’s the metric most directly relevant to emissions. | |||||||||||||||||
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