Smart infrastructure

Spotting a Smart Car in Indiana is a lot like watching a horse and buggy navigate a street filled with automobiles. Both evoke the same sequence of emotions: shock, amusement, admiration, joy.

The hope that the tiny, two-passenger vehicles can minimize the wastefulness of our consumerism leaves me slightly giddy.

After counting three or four Smarts in my hometown this Winter Break, even I, skeptic that I am, was reassured that many people do not live reckless, hedonistic lives with the sole intent of harming the Earth.

Quite the opposite. Many good citizens are willing to go out of their way to invest in smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles.

So many, in fact, that Indiana now has its own Smart Center located on the north side of Indianapolis. 

Common in Europe, Smart Cars provide urbanites with a nice way to get groceries and commute to the office without draining their finances, but the miniature cars honestly aren’t too useful here in the hinterland.

Why?

Infrastructure. The American system itself – the size of most vehicles, ridiculously wide lanes, our long-distance commutes from the suburbs and exurbs – demands that we live wastefully.

As with many of the environmental challenges we face, the issue isn’t whether individual people are willing to make an effort to save the world.

The recycling bin on my floor is overflowing. People in small towns have begun to drive Smart Cars. Other efficient models such as the Honda Fit and the Toyota Prius are wildly popular.

What’s problematic is that most of our infrastructure is, at the very least, ill-equipped to handle earth-friendly technologies.

Though the Federal Stimulus Bill just provided eight billion dollars for high-speed rail, the “splurge” will not be enough to pay for a single bullet train to be built in America. We’ll spend much of the stimulus trying to make basic repairs to decaying tracks. In Japan, people have been enjoying the train’s convenience for the last 40 years.

All the evidence shows that, as far as our nation’s infrastructure is concerned, we are trapped in the ways of the past. We continue to spend lavish amounts of money building more highways, which in turn sustain our addiction to traditional, automobile-based transportation.

Even the most diehard of free market advocates must admit that preserving our environment calls for an expanded government role.

We have a collective, moral responsibility to not destroy our world, and none of us can individually restructure the highway system, encourage urban revitalization, put an end to the growth of suburbia or limit the amount of carbon dioxide manufacturers emit.  
Rather, to provide individuals with meaningful freedoms – being able to choose safety and a Smart Car at the same time, for example – we must recognize the need for a massive governmental role in public works. 

For me, seeing a Smart Car in a place as unlikely as Indiana and witnessing the success of residential recycling programs proves that there is substance to the conservative assertion that the individual’s efforts play a major role in building our society. 

Yet it is equally necessary to acknowledge that our lackluster infrastructure impedes individuals from making the most of their inclination to drive smaller vehicles or opt for public transportation.

Everyone should recognize that addressing our society’s largest, most fundamental problems necessitates individual action. But discussing the role of big government in the same initiatives shouldn’t be an anathema.

Only by engaging in serious infrastructure reforms will we be able to unlock the individual’s potential to be a truly effective steward to the environment.