PWIR: Alllllllll aboard!
You may have missed it during your long commute, but there was largely-unnoticed bipartisan vote in the Michigan State Senate last week that enables high-speed rail to stretch across a large stretch of the state. With this vote, Michigan is on the fast track to the future of transportation!
- The State Senate approves enough funding to unlock the federal funds to create high-speed rail from Dearborn to Kalamazoo. Now we move to the State House for a vote.
- I testified in front of the Natural Gas Subcommittee this week. A quick look at what I presented and why there is so much more still to do on the subject.
- Just to confuse things, there is also a TRAIN Act in Congress which, actually, is totally unrelated to trains and is all about dirty air. To simplify: High-speed rail = good. TRAIN Act = bad.
- Al Gore is coming to Detroit to speak. You’re invited.
The State Senate is onboard for high speed rail. Next stop: The State House
With all this talk of budget shortfalls in Michigan, did you know there was a big pile of federal dollars - $358.9 million, to be precise - just sitting there waiting for us to grab it? Well, fortunately, the State Senate voted on a broad bipartisan basis (30 yes, 6 no, and 2 absent) to approve the necessary matching funds to be able to collect the federal funds to build high-speed rail from Dearborn to Kalamazoo.
If the State House also gives approval on the match to the federal dollars, it will make the train ride from Detroit to Chicago roughly four hours and, finally, competitive with air travel. In conservation terms, the emissions you release as a passenger on a train are a tiny fraction of what you would release as passenger on a flight; it’s similar math for taking the train versus a long car ride. Plus, you actually get legroom.
The matching funds required from the state to access the federal money is only $39.2 million. Even better, half of that sum was contributed by Norfolk Southern Railroad, so the state itself is only putting up $19.6 million. It’s a hell of a bargain.
With the Governor’s speech on infrastructure coming up in about a month, we want all our elected officials thinking about cleaner public transportation. Stay tuned in the next few days as we turn our attention to the State House and encourage them to follow the lead of their Senate colleagues.
My testimony to the House Natural Gas Subcommittee
Last week, I was given the opportunity to speak in front of the State House’s Natural Gas Subcommittee as they explored the various uses and roles for natural gas in Michigan’s future. Michigan LCV was the only conservation or environmental group invited to speak to the committee. Although the Subcommittee did not create the opportunity to speak about the challenges related to hydrofracking – a critical component of any discussion about natural gas in Michigan – we were given assurance that hydrofracking will be examined in a different committee shortly. That discussion is a crucial one and cannot be ignored.
In the meantime – while we wait for the hydrofracking discussion to begin – I spoke to the Subcommittee last week about the need for a long-range, diversified, and ambitious energy plan for Michigan. To fully displace coal, we need a strategy for Michigan that takes advantage of energy efficiency opportunities to save on costs and emissions while setting the stage for an increase in the amount of renewable energy we employ. Other regions and states have found ways to involve natural gas in that transition to cleaner energy. You can find the outline of my testimony here. You can find the outline of my testimony here.
There were a few questions from committee members on that subject, including some aggressive and ill-informed ones from Representative Franz from the Traverse City area, but the overall tone of the committee, and the industries that testified, was a very optimistic one in regard to the uses for natural gas, itself. My favorite part of the hearing, however, was the repeated reminders from nearly all of the panelists that coal is expensive, dirty, and costing the state billions in exported dollars.
It was the first time I felt the tide beginning to shift against coal as a part of Michigan’s energy future. It was an exciting feeling. If natural gas can be extracted in a way that offers maximum protections to Michigan waters and the families and businesses that rely on them, there is a real possibility of finally getting away from dirty coal and all its mercury and asthma-causing toxins.
A real TRAIN wreck
Speaking of air pollution, please know that the TRAIN Act in Congress (which stinks) has nothing to do with trains or the great momentum on high-speed rail back here in Michigan. The TRAIN Act passed the US House of Representatives last week and aims to block two of the most important clean air protections that Americans presently enjoy.
There is some good news, however, in that it is unlikely to actually make it into law. Having woken up on a slightly greener side of the bed than he has recently, President Obama officially threatened a veto on this legislation that would cost thousands their lives in health complications and over 200,000 asthma attacks each year.
Our sister organization in Washington, D.C., the League of Conservation Voters is calling this bill the “single biggest assault on the Clean Air Act in its history.” The national League’s statement can be found here.
Do you know how your Representative voted?
Go see Al Gore
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate is coming to the International Joint Commission’s (IJC) biennial meeting on October 13 at 1:15p in Detroit. The Great Lakes Water Biennial meeting is an important summit put on by the jointly-managed American/Canadian commission responsible for the mutual management of shared waters of the two nations.
Oh, sorry, I almost forgot the best part about the former Vice President’s speech. It’s free.
Until Next Week,
Ryan Werder
Political Week in Review
