But I LIKE the Idea of High Speed Rail

Posted by Linda

Here’s a little article from the current issue of Newsweek that is a perfect example of the kind of frustration Jim and his friends introduce into my liberal, try-to-be-kind-and-fair-to-those-less-fortunate-and-be-as-easy-as-possible-on-the-environment mindset. The article is entitled “We Should Love Our Cars” with a byline by Suzanne Smalley.

President Obama set aside $8 billion for high-speed trains int he stimulus package and Congress added another $1.2 billion. Yet many economists now way the costs of building a high-speed rail network far outstrip possible benefits, especially when cars are becoming more energy efficient. Harvard economist Edward Glaeser has studied the supposed environmental benefits, guided by the carbon-emission data used by environmental advocates. He pegs the annual environmental benefit for a 240-mile high-speed rail line that attracts 1.5 million riders at $4.2 million, a small return give the billions it would cost. Cato scholar Randal O’Toole notes that French and Japanese ride their bullet trains less than 400 miles a year on average, and estimates that an American network would take, at best, 3.5 percent of cars off the road.