Ginette Sze & Tim Murphy

The History and Politics of Automobile Culture

What is it about the automobile that invokes feelings of nostalgia? Car culture has been romanticized over the years; the private vehicle as an artifact of "civilization" has evolved separately from the transportation system that it entails. Sometimes the history of the automobile is conceived of without much thought to the enormous environmental implications of strip, pit and underground mining for metals and fuels, or to the soil compaction, leaching and natural habitat destruction involved in road building. Internal combustion is mythologized as the best technology, responsible for its own inevitable triumph (Kirsch 16). However, socioeconomic factors played a larger part than technological ones in this choice, and they still do. Opting for the combustion engine did not happen in a controlled laboratory setting, it happened in the real-world of the turn-of-the-century United States.

The "horseless carriage" was initially preferred because it alleviated certain burdens: horses need to be fed and protected from the elements and from exhaustion, and produce a great deal of manure that was a considerable problem in the urban environment. That is, the change was made from a solar-flow energy source to a fuel stock. It is improbable that the large-scale environmental problems to come could have been anticipated, although whether anyone would have done anything differently had they known is questionable. The context and growth trajectory of the automobile industry and its supporting subsystems are what give meaning to the environmental effects of the automobile (Kirsch 232).

The proliferation of personal vehicles was elected to a large extent to satisfy the demands of wealthy, urban men (Kirsch 17). The interests of specific powers converged around and endorsed one technological option in the plurality of vehicles originally in use which would maximize economic benefit to those powers and not necessarily to their target market. In the more recent past, corporate political spending has visibly led to corporate political influence, and public policy and social interest are often plainly subordinate to the industry’s economic interests. The political allure of the promise of high-wage jobs in the automotive industry seems irresistible, and the industry uses its control over investment and employment in its political battles, with the result that government (environmental) regulations are blamed for national economic difficulties (Luger 90). As demonstrated by the consent decree in the United States, the industry is able to avoid criminal prosecution and will heed public interest only if it is forced to by Congress (Luger 86). Individual automobile manufacturers have been known to make the threat of "societal" disruption in the form of layoffs if compromising standards are imposed.

The interaction of the EPA and North American governments has exemplified the limits of emission controls and of requesting pollution-reduction technologies. When one industry dominates an area, pollution is often treated as a nonissue by elite structures, or the EPA will include a larger, non attainment area in the study to avoid compromising business interests (Hoyman 73). The oil crisis somewhat increased the proclivity of fuel conservation despite automakers’ grievance over dwindling sales and may have threatened the traditional system of selling large cars for large profits, but a compromise was soon found in fleet averaging. The weight and fuel inefficiency of one model could therefore be offset by improvements to other models, which is of course of little value since the fleet average does not correspond to what vehicles are actually sold, and today SUVs are enjoying an ever-increasing popularity. The oil industry encourages automakers to drag their feet in producing technology that will reduce oil dependence, and LA County Air Pollution Control Board executives have been accused of attempting to implement a "classical conspiracy to restrain trade" (Luger 85). International procedures and standards are also apparently ratified on entirely voluntary basis; anyone remember the Kyoto Protocol?

To a large extent, the American automobile industry is the Canadian automobile industry. The Canadian industry is structured in the same way as the American one and is home to many American manufacturing plants. Furthermore, pollution does not stop at borders, and buying cars of any nationality in effect adds to North American environmental problems. All auto manufacturers, despite any advertizing that might hint at the opposite, employ masses of people whose interests in keeping relatively secure, well-paying jobs and hence maintaining the viability of the industry conflict with the more general need for maintaining an appreciable level of environmental quality. In fact, a process began in the 1930s to dismantle the light rail public transportation system in the United States and replace it with a more profitable although clearly less efficient arrangement. The mission, led by General Motors in conjunction with Standard Oil, Firestone, Greyhound and Mack Truck, was undertaken to implement a diesel bus system (GM was largest producer of diesel buses at the time.) Contractual prohibitions were even put on re-introducing trolleys to ensure the dominance of the diesel-powered buses. The slow, expensive buses then caused the collapse of the public transit system, and commuters were diverted to cars.

The Question of Energy

Strictly in terms of energy, gasoline has a relatively high energy density, which is what makes it the preferred fuel. Alternative fuels always end up weighing more, taking up more space or requiring more sophisticated technology in order to provide a comparable energy supply. However, from a perspective of thermodynamics, petroleum contains such an amount of energy because of the processes that lead to its formation, and its use is not as economical as market prices indicate. This "resource" is not being put to very constructive use with people burning it up to avoid having to expend bodily (renewable) energy.

(http://www.transportation.anl.gov/ttrdc/assessments/energy.html)

The Triple Bottom Line: Environmental, Social & Economic Impacts

Materials and fuel mining for automobiles cause considerable topographical damage to the environment, as well as contaminating the water table. Oil refineries the world over have a reputation for making local environments unlivable, and incalculably great amounts of energy resources are devoted to all of the above processes. Car emissions themselves cause adverse health effects from the air pollution they generate, and a diverse body of literature documenting the contribution of private motorized transportation to climate change is available. Wildlife, in addition to losing acres upon acres of habitat to make way for roads and other human development projects, face the challenge of not getting run over when human transit lines cross their remaining territory. Oil drilling openly takes place on outer continental shelves, in wildlife preserves, and wherever it can be found and extracted, and the transportation of oil is itself a highly destructive practice due to practices like flushing tankers out in the sea. Oil spills and accidents involving hundreds of thousands and even millions of tons of petroleum are numerous in history and continue to evade prevention. Setting up industry for automobile manufacturing inevitably takes up farmland or wilderness, and waste disposal becomes a more obvious issue. In fact, the longer an automobile manufacturing plant is in the area, the more people are aware of pollution as a problem (Hoyman 158). Nevertheless, the automobile industry has done exceedingly well in physically and psychologically distancing consumers from the environmental effects of their purchases.

Individual vehicle emissions are slowly decreasing by virtue of developments such as the catalytic converter, but total emissions are on the rise. Carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen and sulfur and tropospheric ozone (an aggressive oxidant) are emitted from the tailpipe of the automobile, although evaporative losses of hydrocarbons also occur from the carburetor and gas tank, and fumes often escape from the pistons into the crankcase and then find their way into the air (Luger 84, notes). Photochemical smog is produced when hydrocarbons or No_x react with sunlight, and this product reduces the ability of the blood to carry oxygen in humans and animals. Eye irritation is also common, especially in localities like Los Angeles where valleys trap the smog at ground level. Private transportation also distances people from one another in their daily activities, leading to feelings of isolation, alienation and even hostility, as evidenced by road rage.

If the real costs of the automobile are factored into the equation, gasoline production and use are of very limited viability in the long run. Personal costs can be divided into fixed costs (purchasing, insurance, licensing, depreciation, etc.,) operating costs (fuel, repair and maintenance, tickets, tolls, parking, etc.) and other costs (miscellaneous accessories.) "In Canada, in 1999, for instance, it cost Cdn$9,011 to own and drive a typical new car 24,000 kilometers a year. For larger vehicles such as light trucks and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) the costs are even greater" (Alvord 103). As the saying goes, we drive to work and work to drive. In fact, the average U.S. household spends more than one sixth of its budget on cars; more than on food and less than only housing (Alvord 102). Furthermore, drivers incur non-monetary costs such as time spent driving, car crashes and stress (Alvord 104). These costs, though unaccounted for, impose a heavy burden on the public health care system. Worse still are costs external to the individual car owners, those paid for by society as whole. In Canada, external costs average $3000 per car per year. Government road, highway, parking lot and bridge construction and maintenance, tax deductions and traffic control services all come at a hidden cost. Military expenditures are required to keep gasoline prices low; the increasing American dependence on foreign oil is of continual relevance to armed conflict in the Middle East. Katie Alvord refers collectively to these incurred costs (which are absorbed by taxpayers at large) as the "public financing of the private automobile." External costs also include the negative effects of pollution on public health and the environment, and the human toll resulting from accidents. Health Canada estimates that over 16,000 Canadians die from respiratory diseases each year; meanwhile, an average car emits around 1000 different air pollutants and accounts for around 30% of Canada’s CO₂ emissions (Alvord 72). The links are obvious: cars are a main cause of respiratory illness and death. In this light, the private automobile is a publicly funded luxury which many citizens would likely forego were they made aware of its full costs or better yet its opportunity costs. Revenues generated from vehicle licenses and fuel taxes pay for only around 56% of highway costs; over Cdn$5 billion a year come from income taxes. On a larger scale, worldwide subsidies given to the fossil fuel industry are estimated at $643 - $959 million per day. While the automobile industry and its associates enjoy colossal subsidies, public transit remains largely underfunded. Studies by Canada’s National Transportation Act Review Commission found subsidies to the car in 1990-1991 amounted to about seven times the investment in public transit.

Alternatives/Solutions?

Many alternatives exist to the gasoline engine, although alternative energy sources also have their limitations—there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Extending the right (or privilege) of private transportation to six billion people is an environmental and thermodynamic impossibility, and enough evidence exists concerning accidents and fatalities to prove that driving is best left to professionals. Nonetheless if any change is to be expected, the system of transportation will have to accommodate an assortment of possibilites, at least for the near future.

Alternatives include:

While stressing all the obvious advantages of the vehicle, the makers of the Hypercar remind consumers of an important point: "Hypercar vehicles don't solve the basic problems of too many miles driven by too many people in too many cars. Indeed, they may—without good accompanying public policy—worsen these problems by making driving even cheaper and more attractive." Therefore, although such alternatives may be great for those times when a private vehicle is indeed mandated, better long-term solutions, which are seriously needed, would involve a move away from private transportation altogether (the bicycle being the exception).

Present technological leads may be inefficient for private vehicles, but they still present a preferable alternative to diesel buses as far as public transportation is concerned. Infrastructure should integrate all kinds of energy sources to stimulate true competition and comparison and to increase innovation and stimulate initiative in all areas of energy efficiency. Present development caters to the gas-powered automobile—spaghetti style streets and maze-like neighborhoods have led individuals to rely increasingly on their cars for trips that could easily be made by foot or bicycle. Locally, transportation surveys conducted by the AMT (Agence Metropolitaine du Transport) have shown a 30% rise in car use for the Montreal area since 1987. The AMT attributes this rise to an increase in car ownership (24%) and employment (6%), but mostly to an increase in urban sprawl. Development must favor localized businesses, grid pattern roads, convenient and easily accessible public transit systems and an extensive network of cycling lanes.

Hidden behind the clouds of green smoke blown by the public relations teams of major auto companies lies a relative interest by manufacturers to lessen their impacts on the planet. Whether their interests lie in establishing a hedge for future developments, or whether they are truly sincere in their expressions of concern over the damage their product inflicts on the environment, is another question. Regardless, to quote William Clay Ford, the chairman of Ford Motors, "a better world is the ultimate ‘must have’ product feature. Whoever can deliver it will make friends—or more accurately, passionate advocates." So while we wait for the advent of a truly car-free world, automakers must adapt present best practices and explore a variety of alternatives and solutions for the future. Potential solutions for automakers include (Dauncey 166-75):

• Labelling and comparing different vehicles in terms of their fuel efficiency and emissions.
• Reducing emissions from the manufacturing process through various green practices such as more efficient lighting, purchasing green energy, grey water collection and cogeneration.
• Reassuming responsibility for the vehicles full life cycle by establishing take back programs and recycling materials for future use.
• Setting efficiency goals and ceasing to oppose government legislation designed to regulate them.
• Forming new partnerships with environmental actors to help develop and subsequently promote new technologies.
• Selling transportation services and not simply cars—encouraging neighborhood car sharing programs that allow people to borrow vehicles only when really needed.

It is vital to reduce net transportation by addressing urban sprawl and extensive suburbanization. Greater emphasis needs to be placed on urban planning and the importance of design. New developments in mixed use urbanism, high-density living and attention to natural features of a given area will be necessary to cut down on energy consumption and environmental deterioration. Government policy should reflect these basic requirements and transparency should be sought through comprehensive public awareness projects and the spread of important information, especially regarding the destination of tax money. Public participation in these matters is also of key importance since social concerns have for the most part been neglected. A combination of incentives and penalties, again with special attention payed to where tax money and transportation profits are ploughed back into the system, should provide the necessary kick start to revolutionizing North American transportation, at the very least.

What is called for is nothing less than a shared long-term vision of transportation that includes all involved stakeholders both in the business and in the wider biophysical environment. For ecological purposes, cutting back on vain, superfluous or otherwise unnecessary consumption is always the best option. It requires little immediate change in physical and executive infrastructure, only a change in attitude which will uncover the underlying necessity for, and bring about the motivation for, a change in lifestyle. Human-powered vehicles are the only truly sustainable form of transportation yet developed, and energy must be understood in terms of solar-flow thermodynamics if freeloading off the environment and future generations is ever to be curbed.

References

Abbott, Allan V. and David Gordon Wilson. Human-Powered Vehicles. Windsor: Human Kinetics, 1995.

Alvord, Katie. Divorce Your Car: Ending the Love Affair with the Automobile. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers, 2000.

Dagenais, Jean-Pierre. Ironie du Char. Montreal: Bibliothèque Nationale du Québec, 1982.

Dauncey, Guy and Patrick Mazza. Stormy Weather: 101 Solutions to Global Climate Change. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers, 2001.

Hoyman, Michele M. Power Steering: Global Automakers and the Transformation of Rural Communities. University Press of Kansas, 1997.

Kirsch, David. The Electric Vehicle and the Burden of History. Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2000.

Luger, Stan. Corporate power, American Democracy, and the Automobile Industry. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Mondt, J. Robert. Cleaner Cars: the History and Technology of Emission Control Since the 1960s. Warrendale, Pa: Society of Automotive Engineers, 2000.

Seiffert, Ulrich, and Peter Walzer. Automobile Technology of the Future. Warrendale, Pa: Society of Automotive Engineers, 1989.

Sperling, Daniel. Future Drive: Electric Vehicles and Sustainable Transportation. Washington: Island Press, 1995.