Bread and Circuses<p>In 1956, the US Congress voted down President Eisenhower’s proposed Federal Highway Act, ending plans for a gigantic system of interstate freeways. Instead, Congress passed measures heavily subsidizing the expansion of public transit, both within and between cities.</p><p>Thus, the OPEC oil embargo of 1973-74 had little impact in the United States, although it did embolden Congress to outlaw private vehicles weighing more than 2000 pounds. In response, many more citizens quit their cars in favor of public transit or bicycling.</p><p>Over the next few decades, this positive trend continued as almost all countries around the world followed the lead of the US, so that when 2025 rolled around......</p><p>Atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide was holding steady at ~365 ppm, and global temperatures had flatlined at 0.5°C above the pre-industrial average. 🤗</p><p><a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Fiction</span></a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/AlternateHistory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>AlternateHistory</span></a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/BetterTimeline" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>BetterTimeline</span></a></p>