“The news of my death is greatly exaggerated,” Mark Twain
California High Speed Rail would already exist if we had listened to Governor Jerry Brown in his first term in the 1970s. Ever the visionary, Brown extolled Californians to look to the future. At the time he was ridiculed for his efforts.
Now in his third term and in a new century, Brown exhibits the same vision with a carefully orchestrated plan to accomplish the task. Small-minded people have tried to stop this train for years. While Europe and Asia whisk through their continent in systems that are cleaner and faster than anything we have in the United States, NIMBYS in the heart of Silicon Valley pine away for their 19th century heavy stock diesel system–afraid of the new technology.
Of course, due to High Speed Rail, their old Caltrain system will now be electrified. But because of a loud minority, emboldened by some misinformed elected officials and a sensationalized equally uninformed media, the train will go a lot slower and create more noise than it would have if high speed rail had their own system instead of the compromise ‘hybrid system’. This is not China where they can knock down an entire village for progress; this is a democracy where crazy people can lock up good ideas for years.
While the Peninsula will have a “hybrid system”, getting from San Jose to Los Angeles will be a breeze with true High Speed Rail. Brown’s leadership in providing Cap and Trade funds so California can get a match for federal funds is essential and exactly how those funds should be used.
The media has portrayed the project poorly with a myopia that can only be accounted for by the need to report conflict for conflict’s sake. Their current spin is that “environmentalists” oppose the cap and trade money going to High Speed Rail. False. Some self-interested environmental groups would prefer the cap and trade money go to projects they support. But no real environmentalist is against High Speed Rail.
Some Republican elected officials oppose the project because they don’t like President Barak Obama. A few people in the Central Valley don’t like the project but those who are unemployed need it most. The vast majority of those who understand its long-term economic impact do support High Speed Rail.
The fact is the right-of-way goes down Highway 99 so places like Fresno and Bakersfield will get service–again a compromise, sending it down 5 would be faster and easier. The goal is more than just speed; high speed rail will be an economic stimulus to those communities and our entire state. That is why minority leader Nancy Pelosi and our two U.S. Senators support the project. In addition to former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, President Obama, labor and business groups throughout the state support the project.
They support it because our freeways are crowded, our airports have limited gate space, global warming is real, California’s population is increasing, businesses are growing and High Speed Rail is part of the infrastructure needed for that future.
Like the Affordable Care Act that is now working, High Speed Rail will die a thousand deaths until it is fully built. The voices of the naysayers who criticize the train will be lost in history. But because of the wisdom and vision of leaders like Jerry Brown, this valuable infrastructure will survive and future generations, like those who built BART, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Interstate Highway System will utilize it without giving a second thought to the challenges the system once faced.
My goal is to live long enough to take my great grandkids to Disneyland once–and for a couple of hours they’ll have to listen to the “boring” story of the people who made their trip a reality. Then they will raise their eye brows and roll their eyes when I inform them it once took over 6 hours to get Disneyland in a fossil fuel filled car that didn’t drive itself.
“Oh, Grandpa,” they’ll say. I can already hear them.
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