From Change.gov, the hub of President-elect Obama’s now-legitimized effort to modernize America’s executive branch, there came a Youtube video. It reached us Nov. 15, informing America (or at least the bit of it with broadband internet) of the G-20’s economic conference in Washington. It reiterated Obama’s plan for immediate change: massive lifeboat financial handouts coupled with $150 billion toward a greener infrastructure.
It is profoundly obvious to me, as it is to Obama, that establishing an effective utilities structure is vital for survival. I played “Sim City” and “Oregon Trail;” I understand that you’ll die of dysentery if you don’t have enough clean water and bear meat. But I’ve also seen “WALL-E,” which I understand is a terribly prophetic indictment of carbon emissions and morbid obesity, and the post-apocalyptic Earth resulted from neither zombie plagues nor pale horsemen nor rap music. It came from (spoiler warning) us.
The fact of the matter is that America consumes too much and throws away too much. It also drives too much. Obama’s $150 billion could drop back into highway renewal; the smoke of our flaming cash could inflate the lungs of the ailing automotive industry. (Smoking kills, of course, so the metaphor at this stage breaks down somewhat.) But it would be far better invested in railways
Every component of every economy in the history of the world is based on moving things, and America has a lot of things to move and a lot of space in which to move them. According to the Association of American Railroads, trains are four times more efficient than trucks.
“But I like my car,” you say. Did you know that you don’t have to actually drive a train? You can sit and work. Or talk. Or read a book! I daresay you could sleep. Since locomotives are attached to rails, it is very difficult for them to get lost. Trains last for a long time, and you do not need to buy a newer one when you experience a midlife crisis.
And trains kill only a thousand U.S. citizens every year; roads ruthlessly slaughter 40 times that number. (In the UK, where passenger transportation per capita is more common, there are 2000 automotive deaths and only 150 related to rails.)
Many trains have lavatories. Some even tow dining cars, in which you can, say, enjoy an orange Fanta while you read this newspaper!
I do hope that Obama makes our roads safer and more green. But as long as he’s writing checks, I feel rather strongly that he should put a bit of his green into locomotives.
