"There's a reason when you turned on the Olympics to watch them this past summer, you saw mag-lev trains going over 200 miles an hour in supposedly a third world country [i.e., China] in terms of its economy, blowing into town, dealing with environmental problems they have as well as transporting people in a way that we don't even come close to being able to do. And as Barack has pointed out, and John Corzine knows, I may have a bit of a pro-rail bias. I think of the jobs we can create in both construction and innovation if we make similarly bold investments here in the United States, as well as the environmental payoff that flows from that kind of investment."
-- Vice President-elect Joe Biden
Obama administration officials grateful for early spring
Hot planet to Obama: What’s your Plan B?
U.S. and China announce plan for collaboration on clean energy and climate change
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Delay And Deny Posted 11:01 am
02 Dec 2008
Biden,
First things first.
Most of the poor in this country would gain in wealth if they could get off the buses and have a car of their own.
I propose Section 9 -- similar to Section 8 for housing, that would allow poor folk to use a small portion of their income to purchase a car -- like the 68 mpg Ford Fiesta Econetic Diesel.
Oh, and you need to allow Ford to sell it here first, for about $6500 per.
http://www.independent.co.uk/money/invest-save/the-inside ...
The Ford Fiesta Econetic has recently been declared the best value green car by the consumers' group Which? and, according to its manufacturers, offers a fuel consumption rate of 76.3mpg. What's more, its 1.6 litre, turbo diesel engine produces the lowest carbon emissions of all mass-produced cars on sale in Britain, at 98g/km.
Texeme.Construct.Questioner
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Sam Wells Posted 1:35 pm
02 Dec 2008
Well, we don't have a national grid of trains that can go 55 in between stops. We seem to have more accidents and breakdowns than ever. Despite Amtrak making a come-back and some local initiatives, we don't have a national plan. he worst way to fritter away money is to develop super-trains that only work in a limited area and really can't go 200 MPH all the time anyway (check the experience in Spain).
Integration of light freight with passenger also makes some sense to me. To me these would be real "super trains." Plus there is the problem is that rails like UP, BNSF, and CSX own most of the track rights in the US and there isn't a lot of new room for building track easements in new urban areas. But I think that kind of vision can be done ... yup, about 55 MPH. -sam
Onward through the fog
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