Automobility dependence and how the Colonial Pipeline gasoline transportation failure affects gasoline supplies on the Atlantic Coast

Superstorm Sandy.  As a result of Superstorm Sandy, gasoline supplies were restricted and many states declared states of emergency, not just because of disaster damage from the storm, but because of reduced access to gasoline ("After Sandy, New York will hold strategic gasoline reserves," Washington Post, "After Sandy, gas lines stretch for miles," CNN).

New Jersey residents waited in line at a Getty gas station in Sayreville on Oct. 31, 2012 to try and keep their generators running - their only source of power in the wake of Superstorm Sandy..  CNN photo.

This was important not just for transportation, but also for energy to run standby generators, due to electric and/or natural gas power outages for businesses and residences. 

Graphic by Scott Reinhard for the New York Times.

Colonial Pipeline.  The same thing is happening now, as a cyber attack on the Colonial Pipeline (really their financial systems, so they shut down their industrial systems too) has led to the closure of the pipeline, the major source of gasoline supplies in many Southeastern states, but as far north as the Greater New York ("Gasoline Prices Hit $3 as Shortages Grow on Pipeline Outage," Bloomberg, "Are There Gas Shortages in DC, Maryland, Virginia? What to Know After Colonial Pipeline Shutdown," AP/NBC Washington).

The closure of oil refineries over the past 20 years along the East Coast has made the region more dependent on the pipeline for gasoline.

Photo: Andrew Cabellero-Reynolds, Agence France Press.

When you're dependent on the automobile for transportation, breaks in supply are catastrophic as people are stranded without gasoline to power their cars.

1973 Oil Crisis.  When Middle Eastern nations led by Saudi Arabia, declared an oil embargo on Western nations supporting Israel, but also taking control of their oil resources from Western oil companies and raising prices simultaneously, a similar transportation and mobility crisis was sparked ("Long lines, high prices and fisticuffs: The 1970s gas shortages fueled bedlam in America," Washington Post).  

From the article:

“The notion that Americans were going run out of gas was both new and completely terrifying. It came on so suddenly,” said Jacobs, author of “Panic at the Pump: The Energy Crisis and The Transformation of American Politics in the 1970s.” “At the same time, our cars were the size of living rooms.” 

 Both literally and figuratively. Not only were cars large, but they played on outsize role in Americans’ self-conception, she said. 

 “Everybody was completely dependent and in love with their cars as a symbol of American triumph and freedom,” Jacobs said.

The US response didn't attempt to change the land use and mobility planning paradigm that made most of the nation dependent on the automobile.  There were three basic responses: (1) short term reductions in speed limits to reduce demand; (2) longer term gasoline efficiency requirements on cars sold in the United States, to reduce the demand for gasoline but not our dependence on it; and (3) the creation of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a storage plan for oil, accessible in times of restricted supplies.  

How the Netherlands and Denmark responded to the "Oil Crisis."  The response in the Netherlands ("America, The Netherlands, and the Oil Crisis: 50 Years Later," Institute for Trasnportation and Development Policy) and Denmark ("1 energy crisis, 2 futures: How Denmark and Texas answered a challenge," Texas Tribune) was much different.  They realized that as neither country was an oil producer, they would always be reliant on foreign suppliers for oil, and that there could be breaks in supply at any time, and that costs could continue to rise at any time.

Amsterdam.

They recognized that their post-war shift to an automobile-centric mobility paradigm put their countries at risk.  

In response, they re-committed to transit, sustainable mobility, in particular biking, and to compact development/pro-center city development paradigms, all aimed at reducing dependence on oil.

Photo: Building the Cycling City: The Dutch Blueprint for Urban Vitality, published by Island Press.

And they changed other policies to be congruent with their policy decision to de-emphasize the automobile.  

• they changed planning practices in land use and transportation to prioritize sustainable mobility and compact development in a variety of ways
• they invested in transit
• they invested in biking infrastructure
• they invested in sustainable energy sources (e.g., wind power) and energy efficiency
• they raised the excise tax on gasoline, so that gasoline today is about $7/gallon
• they raised the excise tax on new automobiles to be about equivalent to the cost of the car
• they require urban car purchasers to prove they have parking before they can buy a car
• etc.

Transportation engineers do what they are told to do.  This is why I get "frustrated" talking with biking advocates who say "why can't we just ask Dutch engineers why they aren't resistant to doing good bike infrastructure?"

Photo: Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune. Traffic on State Street in South Salt Lake, Wednesday June 5, 2019.

I say, "you miss the point.  In the US, in terms of transportation planning we say, sometimes, transit and biking and walking are good.  But all our planning systems incentivize automobility. US transportation engineers are told to prioritize the car and that's what they do.

In Denmark and the Netherlands, their planning systems prioritize sustainable mobility and compact development, so that's why their systems produce high quality outcomes for transit, biking, walking, and compact development."

Why it's difficult for the US to do something similar.  Not only does the US have a thriving automobile industry, although granted it is going through a paradigm shift today with the rise in demand for electric cars, it is one of the world's leading oil producers.  

Major centers of oil and natural gas production in the United States.  Source: "The United States of oil and gas," Washington Post.

So US economic policy supports sprawl land use development and automobility, because it supports two of the nation's leading industries.

This wasn't an issue in the Netherlands and Denmark, although even Norway, a leading oil producer with discoveries in the North Sea in the 1970s, has prioritized sustainable mobility practices (although this is in part because it is a major producer of hydroelectricity).

Interestingly, Germany shows that you can be super committed to automobiles, as it's home to globally significant manufacturers Mercedes, VW, and BMW, and sustainable mobility too,  

Most of Germany's major cities have extensive transit and bikeway networks, and the country has high gasoline excise taxes, makes it difficult and expensive to get a driver's license, has high registration fees for automobiles, etc.  But a great freeway system, etc.