trainfan

KJP, thanks for the comprehensive analysis. Bush said in his state of the union address that it's time to get serious about "reducing our dependence on foreign oil". your statistics make it abundantly clear that defunding Amtrak will do exactly the opposite. do you have an estimate of how many additional gallons of gas would be required to move people if the 25 million annual Amtrak passengers have to turn to autos and/or planes? and what about the additional CO2 and other global warming emissions that will be created by this spike in reliance on more polluting forms of travel? Also -- what percentage of the $63 billion per year subsidy to highways from governments at all levels is currently paid for by gas tax/trust fund dollars? also, what about the costs of environmental contamination -- air pollution, runoff, deposition to water bodies and highway patrol and emergency services? thanks again for all your info

After two planes were flown into the World Trade towers in NYC, Congress bailed out airlines with a $15 billion subsidy. We then went to war with a country that had nothing to do with 9/11, but sits on the world's second largest oil reserve (we've got to fuel those Hummers somehow). That costs us over $5 billion per MONTH. Amtrak asks for a billion or two per year, and the Administration and its defenders scream about fiscal responsibility. Trains emit far less global warming emissions than planes or cars, can't be flown into nuclear power plants, don't jeopardize all of us with 16 year old drunk drivers, and don't require oil wars or endless paving and parking projects to sustain them. Not to mention that you can actually talk with other people and take a moment to read or think on a train. Just like the Reagan Administration, W and co. have buried us in red ink to give their buddies and campaign contributors huge tax cuts and handouts. Then they ask the rest of us to "tighten our belts" and send our sons and daughters off to fight their wars to keep the money flowing to Halliburton and Bechtel. You do the math.