this post was submitted on 06 Jun 2024
36 points (95.0% liked)
Climate - truthful information about climate, related activism and politics.
5205 readers
699 users here now
Discussion of climate, how it is changing, activism around that, the politics, and the energy systems change we need in order to stabilize things.
As a starting point, the burning of fossil fuels, and to a lesser extent deforestation and release of methane are responsible for the warming in recent decades:
How much each change to the atmosphere has warmed the world:
Recommended actions to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the near future:
Anti-science, inactivism, and unsupported conspiracy theories are not ok here.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
What?
I am criticizing that the project is 10 years behind schedule and that there are very few comparable initiatives to expand passenger rail.
Instead of prioritizing work on proven solutions, funding is going to fringe science fair projects. Elon Musk literally got government permission and funds to dig a subway tunnel for electric cars.
Even if the CAHSR project is completed, it will likely be expected to run as a for-profit enterprise like Amtrak, making ticket prices unaffordable for many commuters.
Fair enough, but afaik the California government didn’t give him money for that.
I mean it’s the first system of its kind in the country and it’s being built in a state full of NIMBYs. Many of the delays were caused by lawsuits and environmental review like here, here, here, and here.
The latest estimates from 2019 (page 22) the ticket cost will be 100 dollars from San Francisco to la. Which would put the per km cost at a very competitive 13 cents.
What does that have to do with California?
Right, but Las Vegas did and still is. It's more about how so many people in power were duped into believing it was ever a reasonable method of transportation. It would be dishonest to call it anything other than a publicity stunt / tourist attraction for SV tech bros.
Acquisitions through eminent domain have been used for far more nefarious purposes in the past.
I would be pleasantly surprised if that comes to be reality, though the cost of the project keeps rising and business school drop outs are going to demand costs be recouped through higher ticket prices.