While simultaneously touting his 'green' policy agenda, California Governor Schwarzenegger is trying to put the brakes on the state's planned high-speed rail system in favor of traditional highway infrastructure improvements.
"All the project studies indicate [that high-speed rail] should be a no-brainer [for California]...The trains use far less power than planes or cars and can be powered by renewable resources with no emissions. The system would get more than 2 million cars off the road and single-handedly reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by as much as 12 million metric tons per year...Advocates for high-speed rail say it's an essential component of California going green and the only realistic way to meet the ambitious climate change targets approved last year in Assembly Bill 32."
"Growing awareness of climate change has increased support for high-speed rail among legislators and in public opinion polls (among Democrats and Republicans), leaving only one major impediment to getting energy-efficient trains traveling the state at 220 mph: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
While posing for the April 16 cover of Newsweek with the headline "Save the Planet-or Else" and touting himself around the world as an environmental leader, Schwarzenegger has quietly sought to kill-or at least delay beyond his term-high-speed rail."
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