If not for big oil, we'd be taking trolleys and driving cars powered by steam, etc. Big oil was not a help with public mass transportation, either. Plus, we, the taxpayers, paid for highways and road repairs to aid their cause. Plus, plus, the MIddle East would be a lot different today.
As an aside, I checked with my contact at the NYC DOT (for real), who project managed the Times Square transformation that was pictured in the article you posted, and he has never heard of Andy Cohen, the author.