Because of his recent experience with World War II and the massive logistical challenges it presented, Eisenhower was acutely aware of the need for the nation to be prepared to move large quantities of men and materials in wartime. He saw the Interstate Highway as supplying this capability. Today the Interstate Highways are more congested, especially in and around urban areas, and no longer provide the expedited capability to move massive flows of military goods a crisis might demand. The Steel Interstate can restore this reserve capacity, once again permitting reliable cross-country freight movements and links to strategic ports.
Because of the huge dependence of our transportation sector on oil, the nation is enormously vulnerable to any disruption in the supply of oil. The USA has 177,000 miles of railroads, with the Department of Defense classifying 32,421 miles as strategic (STRACNET). An electrified Steel Interstate System would protect this core strategic rail network and help protect the nation from a worldwide disruption in oil production.
U.S. D.O.D.; adapted by Shawn Spencer for RAIL Solution
Independent researcher Alan Drake argues convincingly that a reduction of 6 to 7 million barrels per day over 24 to 30 months would cause U.S. food distribution to become erratic and the national economy to collapse. A nation can be defeated through economic collapse as truly as on the battlefield.[Drake, A., Multiple Birds – One Silver BB: A synergistic set of solutions to multiple issues focused on Electrified Railroads, 2-15-08,] International geopolitical scenarios are possible that could produce the protracted decline in oil availability hypothesized by Drake, including coordinated action by the Arab producing nations and military interdiction of the Straits of Hormuz or Malacca.
Another likely cause is that in a post-Peak Oil world, [National Security: Peak Oil information arriving soon] producing nations will naturally begin to preserve more domestic production for current and future domestic use, especially since the economies of many such producing nations are booming. Such hoarding can be expected to cause world oil exports to fall even more rapidly than world oil production. Energy economists refer to this as the Export Land Model, and it has been increasingly discussed and debated in recent years. Alan Drake states that in his opinion, “This is the most likely scenario and a very real threat to national security - even survival.”