From the outbox of Meyer’s inbox
There’s been a lot of buzz lately about bringing high speed rail to America. Last year, when the buzz began, Time Magazine published a story aptly entitled “A BRIEF HISTORY OF HIGH SPEED RAIL.” As you’ll read, high speed rail is all the rage in Japan who drove the spike (for you train buffs!) and launched their high speed rail back in 1964. A lot of Europe has gotten in on the act with bullet trains whizzing all over Italy and Spain. So how come we’re lagging behind? Sounds like a great way to kick start some much needed jobs. Anybody ever travel on one of this bullet trains? You think they can work over here?
Can High Speed Rail Succeed In America? by Bryan Walsh writing for Time Magazine
Environmentalists came away from President Obama’s first State of the Union address on Wednesday with mixed feelings. Yes, the President focused on the importance of investment in clean energy and energy efficiency as the best way to sustainably grow America’s moribund economy, and he mentioned clean coal, biofuels and nuclear power (though not renewable energy), and he talked up the need to pass a “comprehensive energy and climate bill.” But notably, he said nothing about putting a price on carbon — which is considered by most greens to be the key move to reduce global carbon emissions.
There was one part of the speech, however, that no green could fault: Obama’s call for the creation of a high-speed rail system as a way to generate green jobs, enhance economic productivity and reduce carbon emissions. On Thursday, Jan. 28, the White House announced the awarding of $8 billion in stimulus funding to kick-start high-speed-rail projects and improve service in 13 corridors across the country. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden traveled to Tampa, Fla., to announce the projects, which include the construction of an 84-mile high-speed track from Tampa to Orlando.
“We want to start looking deep into the 21st century and say to ourselves, There’s no reason why other countries can build high-speed rail lines and we can’t,” Obama told a crowd in a University of Tampa arena. “Right here in Tampa, we’re building the future.”
That’s a nice sentiment, but America’s antiquated rail system will have to advance a long way just to make it to the present, let alone the future. U.S. intercity railroads are a laughingstock compared with those in most other developed nations — and, increasingly, even those in developing nations like China, which is investing more than $300 billion to build more than 16,000 miles of high-speed track by 2020.
You can read the rest of the article here.
