Climatewire reports:
California unveiled an overhaul of its high-speed rail project yesterday and included a new funding source: revenue from the state’s pending cap-and-trade program.
A revised blueprint for the bullet train, which also cut the project’s price tag one-third to $68.4 billion, described the cap-and-trade proceeds as a “backstop” if other money isn’t available…
Nope, they are aiming a bit higher up then the foot on this one.
Houston built a rail line just so they could attract a Stuporbowl. Don’t recall the actual cost or the estimated cost but it never lived up to expectations. When I left 5 years ago it was still running; usually with only a handful of riders. The biggest impact was so many small businesses were destroyed during construction. No government handouts to those owners.
So California is going to shoot itself in the foot with a train?
Dream on, Governor Moon Beam.
Look at any public transportation system. It never supports itself without subsidies, especially trains.
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Historically, large novel projects like this tend to over estimate benefits by double and underestimate costs by half.
IF (and that is a BIG “if”) this ever gets done, look for cost overruns in the neighborhood of $50-75 Billion, and ridership at about half of projections.
The “reduced price” of $68.4 billion exceeds the
Gross Domestic Product of 170 nations. Spending
it on a train is simply OBSCENE !!!
So cap and trade IS a tax and has nothing to do with clean air.