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High-Speed Rail Is Definitely Green
East Bay Express ^ | 8/29/12 | Max Pringle

Posted on 08/29/2012 11:37:02 AM PDT by NormsRevenge

Opponents of high-speed rail contend that it's a boondoggle because of its $68 billion pricetag. But a recent UC Berkeley study provides evidence that a California bullet train might be a good investment, particularly when it comes to reducing greenhouse gases and fighting climate change.

The study, published recently in the journal Environmental Research Letters, was the result of two years of research by UC Berkeley civil and environmental engineering professor Arpad Horvath and Mikhail Chester, professor at Arizona State University's School of Sustainable Engineering and The Built Environment. The study analyzed the environmental sustainability of a high-speed rail network compared to flying and driving. The authors concluded that the high-speed rail system, when it's completed, will consume less energy and emit fewer greenhouse gases and less pollution than autos or planes, even after accounting for future improvements in auto and airplane fuel efficiency and cleaner, greener technology.

"We're not only looking at greenhouse gases, we're also considering things like the potential for smog formation as well as human health respiratory effects," Chester said in an interview. "What we've found is that high-speed rail would be a cleaner mode."

According to the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California, California's population will exceed 50 million people by 2040. ..

In 2008, voters approved $10 billion in bonds to pay for the start-up costs of high-speed rail. Since then, the proposed project has had numerous setbacks that have threatened to derail it. The price tag also has ballooned to at least $68 billion. Republican state Senator Doug LaMalfa, .. "Costs for high-speed rail will continue to rise even as public support plummets," LaMalfa said in a statement. "California doesn't have the money for this project."

(Excerpt) Read more at eastbayexpress.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; US: California
KEYWORDS: boondoggle; california; definitely; green; highspeedrail; hsr
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Toot Toot Toot went the horn Clang Clang Clang went the bell

No one boarded the link going nowhere

but you didn't hear it here. (HSR in California? . it's enuf to make ya spew green.)

1 posted on 08/29/2012 11:37:04 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
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To: NormsRevenge

only if it’s made of Rearden Metal..........


2 posted on 08/29/2012 11:39:43 AM PDT by Red Badger (Anyone who thinks wisdom comes with age is either too young or too stupid to know the difference....)
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To: NormsRevenge

“...California bullet train might be a good investment, particularly when it comes to reducing greenhouse gases and fighting climate change.”

Sooooo, these writers have demonstrated that they are collossal jewels of monumental ignorance in both science and economics.

Must be liberals.


3 posted on 08/29/2012 11:42:31 AM PDT by Da Coyote
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To: NormsRevenge
good investment, particularly when it comes to reducing greenhouse gases and fighting climate change.

What utter nonsense. NOTHING is good investment that purports to change the weather. That is out of the realm of human control.

4 posted on 08/29/2012 11:43:38 AM PDT by backwoods-engineer (My game is disruption. I will use lethal force --my vote-- in self-defense against Obama.)
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To: NormsRevenge

Well that settles it then. Build it. Build it everywhere. Damn the cost.


5 posted on 08/29/2012 11:43:42 AM PDT by bkepley
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To: Red Badger

Damn! Beat me to it.


6 posted on 08/29/2012 11:44:27 AM PDT by Lee'sGhost (Johnny Rico picked the wrong girl!)
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To: NormsRevenge
For $68 billion, they could buy 1,700,000 Chevy Volts and use those instead. Imagine pony express stations for state-owned Volts every 30-40 miles. Now THAT'S thinking green!

I got a million ideas just as good as that!

7 posted on 08/29/2012 11:44:42 AM PDT by VanShuyten ("a shadow...draped nobly in the folds of a gorgeous eloquence.")
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To: NormsRevenge
High-Speed Rail Is Definitely Green

Just ask Willie Green.

8 posted on 08/29/2012 11:45:02 AM PDT by Disambiguator
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To: NormsRevenge
High-Speed Rail Is Definitely Green

I prefer red white and blue.

9 posted on 08/29/2012 11:45:04 AM PDT by EGPWS (Trust in God, question everyone else)
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To: Lee'sGhost

I just watched Atlas Shrugged Part One last week.

I watched to see if they actually made Rearden Metal green.

They did...........


10 posted on 08/29/2012 11:46:29 AM PDT by Red Badger (Anyone who thinks wisdom comes with age is either too young or too stupid to know the difference....)
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To: Disambiguator
Just ask Willie Green.

I thought 'Choo Choo' Willie was banned!

11 posted on 08/29/2012 11:47:04 AM PDT by backwoods-engineer (My game is disruption. I will use lethal force --my vote-- in self-defense against Obama.)
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To: NormsRevenge

But, the industries that they skim from to support the railway’s deficits are greenhouse gas producing industries.


12 posted on 08/29/2012 11:47:50 AM PDT by Daveinyork
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To: NormsRevenge
Green technology is a good investment, and it results in tremendous wealth because changing the weather makes jobs magically rain down. You see, when a Democrat says it, it's very wise and sensible ...

But there is a thread nearby:

As Isaac Hits Gulf Coast, Obama Jokes That GOP Believes Jobs 'Will Magically Rain Down'

Republicans say the stupidest things -- especially when you put words in their mouths.

13 posted on 08/29/2012 11:48:40 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (I'm not voting for Romney. The Grand Old Whig Party doesn't own my vote and failed to earn it.)
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To: NormsRevenge

Given that any constructed item requires energy to create (e.g., from iron ore to polished steel), I would imagine that the $68 billion in construction accounts for huge amount of energy use, which I would imagine would overwhelm any modest decrease in greenhouse gases for a train versus car trip.


14 posted on 08/29/2012 11:49:40 AM PDT by Fractal Trader
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To: NormsRevenge

Maybe they could get like a million sasquatches and they could just carry everybody in California.


15 posted on 08/29/2012 11:52:56 AM PDT by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
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To: NormsRevenge

Nobody ever gives me a lifecycle cost. I don’t give a damn if it runs emission free if the manufacture and installation is not also emission free. Tell me the whole story and then we can talk.


16 posted on 08/29/2012 11:55:36 AM PDT by jimfree (In Nov 2012 my 12 y/o granddaughter has more relevant&quality executive experience than Barack Obama)
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To: NormsRevenge

Maybe you know why a high-roller... ...like George Soros is interested in Rock Ridge.

Don't know. Got to do with where choo-choo go.

Mongo, why would George Soros care about where the choo-choo goes?

Don't know. Mongo only pawn in game of life.

17 posted on 08/29/2012 11:56:26 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: NormsRevenge
What are the unintended consequences of really fast trains. How many animals will they kill? What are energy problems? They have the potential to be as bad as windmills.
18 posted on 08/29/2012 11:56:58 AM PDT by mountainlion (Live well for those that did not make it back.)
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To: NormsRevenge

19 posted on 08/29/2012 12:00:54 PM PDT by TheRightGuy (I want MY BAILOUT ... a billion or two should do!)
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To: Disambiguator

High-Speed Rail Is Definitely Willie Green


20 posted on 08/29/2012 12:05:14 PM PDT by TurboZamboni (Looting the future to bribe the present)
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