Sunday Train: Can Trains Help Win the Day in Australia?

by BruceMcF

Burning the Midnight Oil for Living Energy Independence

It seems as if many people have been paying more attention to the Beckapalooza in DC ... and the whole furor had me initially confused, as originally I thought it was something to do with Beck the Mongolian Chop Squad ...

But last weekend, there was an election in Australia, and on the night it seemed like it could be the closest in Australian history. As the week went on, that proved to be the case. And I got to thinking, listening to the various independents that hold the balance of power, that there could well be an unlikely working partnership available, where trains could help delivered a progressive governing majority on the most improbable of foundations.

NB: the grassfire in a dry lake bed shot that I use on occasion is in fact from Australia, suffering what has been characterized as a long running drought, but what seems more likely to be a secular shift to a dryer climate.

continued at Daily Kos....

Sunday Train: Guaranteeing Rural Transport in the face of Peak Oil

by BruceMcF

Burning the Midnight Oil for Living Energy Independence

Remember to check in next week around 8pm Eastern

In the firefly-dreaming edition of last week's Burning the Midnight Oil for Progressive Populism diary, RiaD raised the issue:

only that i'm a rural dweller, we must have a vehicle as there is no mass transit here. but we do pay very close attention to our trips to town (10+ miles) & city(40+ miles) and do as much as possible each trip. i would guess we actually use less gas living rurally than most city/urban dwellers.

we've got to start thinking differently as a nation.
become more citizens of the planet than american consumers
imo anyway.

... which set me thinking about the difference between One-Size-Fits-All solutions like Auto-Uber-Alles and A-Fit-For-Each-Size solutions. One size fits all makes is seem as if "that does not do this" is a massive obstacle ... when under A Fit for Each Size, it is a challenge to find the means of accomplishing that task.

continued at Daily Kos....

Sunday Train: Kasich says Outsource Ohio HSR jobs to California

by BruceMcF

Burning the Midnight Oil for Living Energy Independence

... or Virginia or Illinois or upstate New York or North Carolina or Washington and Oregon or ...

... well, any other state except Ohio. Outsourcing Ohio's HSR jobs to other states is a central plank of John Kasich's run to become Governor of Ohio.

Of course, we don't expect people from places like Lehman Brothers to flat out say something like that: instead, they give a plausible sounding sound bite which then falls apart the minute you think about it. Their hope, it seems, is that nobody thinks about it.

So too with Kasich's plan to hand Ohio's $400m in HSR Stimulus Funds back to the Federal Government for another state to use ... he hides his plan behind a red herring.

continued at Daily Kos...

Sunday Train: Can the US get its Energy Freedom Act Together?

by BruceMcF

Burning the Midnight Oil for Living Energy Independence

Here we are:

• a long, long way from full employment and full capacity utilization, when only the ignorant and ideologically insane would imagine any general objections to increased government spending on useful long term
• and with a gusher in the Gulf reminding us that the Oil Companies are lying liars and listening to their assurances and advice leads to disasters at best and calamities at worst

... and yet there is a genuine question whether or not the Federal government will take the bit between its teeth and push ahead toward funding a 21st century oil-free transportation system.

While it is a fun thing to imagine different institutions to see through the development of different alignments, lurking in the background is the worry: what if our body politic is just broken, and this time we cannot do what needs to be done?

continued at Daily Kos....

Sunday Train: The Liberty Fund, 1 cent/gallon and 1 percent

by BruceMcF

Burning the Midnight Oil for Living Energy Independence Remember the ontroversy over whether the Stimulus would be "going overboard"? Well, when we net Federal, State and Local Government ... there is no Stimulus. The Federal Spending from ARRA was too small to cover the drop in spending at the State and Local government in the last quarter of last year and first quarter of this year. And yet those who are unhappy that we have not yet had a Depression since the 30's have been successful in getting the recipe for a Depression installed as the Conventional Wisdom. This diary is about one strategy to side-stepp the neo-Hooverites with a "fully funded" program that will still provide the stimulus that our economy desperately needs to get the recovery into second gear where it can start cutting into the unemployment crisis.

continued at Daily Kos....

Sunday Train: Help Wanted. 1% Solutions. Apply Within.

by BruceMcF

Burning the Midnight Oil for Living Energy Independence OK, the story so far: "BP", which seems to stand for "Blatant Phonies", lies about being able to fix a problem it lies about being almost certain not to happen and due to entirely predictable criminal negligence catastrophe strikes ... because we in the US are addicted to crude oil, the "Texas Tea" that finances the Texas Tea Parties ... and if we cut our petroleum addiction by 5% each year, in 20 years we'll be off the stuff. Transport needs about 7 5% solutions per decade over the next two decades. With the White House policy as one, Steel Interstates, Nationwide Oil-Free Liberty Transport networks, 5% of trips by Active Transport, and doubling the fuel efficiency of cars carrying 10% of passengers, that's 5 of the 7. But of course, five 1% solutions make a 5% solution too. So I am looking for 10 "1% solutions". Heck, if we have enough of them, we can get 10% over the next two decades from 1% solutions even if they are not all 1%.

continued at Daily Kos....

Thursday Night Express: High Speed Rail, Rapid Streetcars, and Democracy

by BruceMcF

Burning the Midnight Oil for Living Energy Independence Welcome to the Thursday Night Express. This is a new service joining the Sunday Train. In Sunday Train, I try to dig into some information related to energy independent transport and share what details I can find. And of course, some people have time to ride the Sunday Train, and some people do not have the time to spare. The Thursday Evening Express is an experiment that will pick three specific topics, primarily from the previous Sunday Train, and present three short arguments in two to three paragraphs.

continued at Daily Kos....