The Norwegian government professes a nearly insufferably self-righteous commitment to reducing CO2 and other emissions, especially considering that our economy is entirely dependent on selling stuff that produces CO2 when burned, or, rather, combusted.
There are several ways to reduce CO2 emissions, but everyone agrees that fewer people should drive themselves and their backpack to work every day. Most large cities have invested to make public transportation fast, inexpensive, and convenient.
Not so much in Norway and especially the large cities.
Norway has something called a “district policy” that essentially involves trying to stop people from moving away from rural areas. There are various arguments for this policy, but what’s clear is that it’s only postponing the inevitable:
From the late 1800s to about 1972, the rural population stayed constant, while the entire population growth happened in urbanized areas. But since then the actual population in rural areas has declined at a rate that seems to be accelerating.
Not surprisingly, real estate values in urban areas have skyrocketed, and pressure on cities and towns – in terms of pollution, traffic congestion, etc., – is increasing.
During the election this year, Natur og Ungdom accused the incumbent government (which was reelected) of allocating investment funds to building roads in rural areas rather than public transportation in urban areas.
Transportøkonomisk Institutt also points to a pending crisis in congestion in the three largest cities.
Some wicked aspects to this problem:
- Unresolved, it will only get worse and reach a level of absurdity (empty highways and roads in rural areas) and crisis (LA-like commutes in Oslo)
- It is inherently political. The rational thing to do is to freeze investments serving communities with declining populations, which of course would speed up rather than postpone the migration.
- Economics are messy. Any kind of punitive incentives (tolls, parking fees) are inherently regressive, any positive incentives are very expensive.
- Investments have considerable lag. It takes years to upgrade railroads and subway tracks, build bike paths, etc.
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