Are we serious about changing our wasteful ways? Not!

September 24th, 2008 at 09:52pm Chuck Sweeny

Do you think we’re really serious in this country about conserving energy, saving on gas and reconsidering our practice of sprawl development, which wastes energy and raises the cost of local government enormously.

No, of course we’re not serious! I give you two examples:

The U.S. has just awarded Denny Hastert his “Prairie Parkway,” a superhighway linking I-88 with I-80. Cost for the short highway: a cool $1 billion.

And in Winnebago County, there’s a move afoot to make Meridian Road into Perryville West. I call it the road to nowhere.

This would be to encourage sprawl development, to make the far west side of Rockford just like the far east side. Who benefits? Why, the road builders and land developers, the fellows who contribute big bucks to politicians.

Is anybody asking taxpayers if they want the road? Or if they want to plow up thousands more acres of farmland for worthless strip malls and tinker-toy houses?  Of course not.

American democracy is a fine concept. But it exists mainly in textbooks. In reality, it’s  pay to play.

Entry Filed under: wasteful ways