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What Is your opinion on funding the new high speed rail program? Liberals are for it due to the fact that it would be environmentally friendly, while conservatives on the other hand think it is useless spending. I personally am a HUGE fan of it (due to the pro urban trend it would help set up).
Sounds great, but the liberals would ultimately be against as it may disrupt the elk population, or a spotted salamander somewhere through it's path...
Much like the oil pipeline from Canada that the the current regime rejected...and i quote..
Obama was putting politics ahead of jobs and the nation's energy security by rejecting the pipeline now, Republicans and oil industry leaders said. The president faced fierce pressure from environmentalists who said they would be less likely to campaign for him in November if he didn't block the project to move carbon-heavy oil from the tar sands of northwest Canada.
Sounds great, but the liberals would ultimately be against as it may disrupt the elk population, or a spotted salamander somewhere through it's path...
Much like the oil pipeline from Canada that the the current regime rejected...and i quote..
Obama was putting politics ahead of jobs and the nation's energy security by rejecting the pipeline now, Republicans and oil industry leaders said. The president faced fierce pressure from environmentalists who said they would be less likely to campaign for him in November if he didn't block the project to move carbon-heavy oil from the tar sands of northwest Canada.
High speed rail makes sense in European countries because they are small. The US is so vast that high speed rail at the national level would be significantly slower than flying and, consequently, would probably be less popular. It might work on a regional level though.
It makes a lot of sense, a HS Rail between Boston and Miami vs the money spent on auto and air travel is a no brainer. Think of the money spent on the infrastructure just for aviation not to mention the fuel cost for hoisting a plane up in the air, should have invested decades ago.
The fuel cost per passenger mile is something like 100:1 for air vs rail.
We have no real debts to pay off, nothing more important than needs doing, and we have no transportation in those areas. Plainly we need this high-speed rail, and the untold billions it will cost must be spent on it, and quickly.
I voted no. You can already fly anywhere you want in the country or take a bus. It's a lot of expense for no gain other that putting people to work building it. However, I would have much rather had obummer invest in a high speed rail system than Solyndra... At least we'd have something to show for all the money spent in the end.
While there would be jobs created building such a system, in the end, we'd just swap jobs in the airlines and busses when all was said and done.
I also wonder who would use such a system.
I would rather see safe subway systems going in to eash commuting congestion. I can't see spending the money on something people are unlikely to use even once a year to go on vacation.
No. And there are so many reasons I don't even know where to begin.
One obvious one that comes to mind is that every city on the map will want a stop and the resulting "high speed" train will end up going slower than Amtrak does today.
High speed rail makes sense in European countries because they are small. The US is so vast that high speed rail at the national level would be significantly slower than flying and, consequently, would probably be less popular. It might work on a regional level though.
Which is why the 19th century rail systems in the US and Russia were such failures The more space one needs to cover, the more useless transportation is.
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The more space one needs to cover, the more useless transportation is. 