“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” ? George Santayana. “The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history.” ? Friedrich Hegel
If both of these philosophers are correct, it follows that we are condemned to repeat history. This quote came back to me dramatically when the Obama administration put forward the idea of CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency) standard of 35 miles per gallon (MPG). This sounded familiar, so I did some research on the Internet.
The salient details are: after the oil embargo of the early 1970s, the DOT (Department of Transportation) was given the task to set mileage standards within the parameters of cost, technological feasibility and environmental requirements. Fuel economy of 27 MPG was targeted for 1985.
In 1981 Joan Claybrook, the Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, advanced a NHTSA notice that called for fuel efficiency standards to reach 48 MPG by 1995. President Reagan withdrew the notice.
In 1990, the 27 MPG standard was restored, but did not include pickup trucks and SUVs. Thus, the ubiquitous image of a single person piloting an unquenchable behemoth down the road.
So, more than 35 years after the first awakening of the national consciousness on this issue, we begin again at the beginning. If our premise about history holds true, the next administration will lower or ignore the standards.
Sadly, maybe this means Santayana”s aphorism is too long. Maybe he should have said, “Those who do not learn from history are condemned.”
So, we have more wars and more environmental degradation. I can only assume many of us are either in denial, petulant refusal (“No one is going to tell me what to do!”), or have decided to take out a reverse mortgage on the planet.
I fear for my grandchildren (and all children are my grandchildren). I heard James Cameron, the director of Avatar, quote a Native American saying: “Walk carefully on the earth, because you are stepping on the faces of the coming generations.”
Nelson Strasser
Kelseyville
