The Rail Passengers Association (RPA) started an 'action alert' on Wednesday to stop efforts by mostly SoCal lawmakers to pilfer $4.8 billion in electrification funds from California's High-speed Rail Program, currently under way in the Central Valley (see lead photo).
The lawmakers can't force a redistribution of the funds directly, so their latest strategy is to pressure the California High-speed Rail Authority to shift the money to commuter rail in their districts by playing brinkmanship and threatening to blow up the whole project.
From the RPA alert page, which includes a form advocates can use to write to their elected officials:
In another attempt to defund high-speed rail in the state, members of the California State Assembly last week adopted HR 97 which requests that the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CAHSRA) delay the awarding of several key contracts regarding the completion of the initial 171-mile construction segment currently under construction in the Central Valley. These contracts include the track construction and electrification of the line, the procurement of electric high-speed train sets, and land acquisitions to continue construction into the cities of Merced and Bakersfield -- all vital steps toward the completion of the route between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Such delays could put the state on the hook for billions in federal matching funds. Basically, the SoCal politicians would be killing HSR. The advocacy group asks supporters of clean, electric rail to write and tweet their legislators using the form they provide and tell them to "stand up for high-speed rail and that you oppose delaying the project as directed in HR 97."
No examination of whether investing in the Central Valley versus other regions will do more to reduce emissions?
See the chart below, from the 128-page "side by side" study, which looks at exactly this issue, published in Feb. 2020 by the consultancy arm of Deutsche Bahn, operator of Germany's High-speed rail network.
CVS = Central Valley Segment
The chart lays out how much CO2 emissions would be reduced by the completion of each segment, under various scenarios that are covered in the full study.
There's also a study by KPMG that looks at the same emissions issues.
A Nozomi bullet train in Japan, running on electric power. L.A. politicians want California's system to run much slower while belching out diesel. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
If the LA Times's editors think these studies are flawed, they can say so. They could even say something such as "there's been no unbiased examination." Or they can say the studies are bullsh*t if they want. But to pretend greenhouse gas emission reduction claims are all idle speculation and no professional studies exist on this issue? That's just gaslighting.
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