America Is Not Addicted To Oil

President Bush was wrong in his State of the Union address, but he wasn't lying. America is not addicted to oil; two thirds of American oil consumption is for transportation — as our population increases, and cities spread further apart, we use more and more oil. The reason we spread further and further out is often because city living is expensive; one is able to purchase a bigger home for the same amount of money by moving away from the city center. Most major central cities are no longer growing; the suburbs are already filled up, so now the "exurbs" are exploding. At this point, as people make the conscious choice in cities like Atlanta to drive one to two hours each way to get to work, we must acknowledge that America is addicted to using oil to get to and from its land. America is addicted to real estate.

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