September 19-25th is the EPA’s Pollution Prevention Week, a time to consider the impact of daily habits and commit to making them a little more green.

Humans are constantly on the move. Unlike societies past, we’ve invented numerous ways to zoom from place to place. Trips that used to take days or even (more…)

A European high-speed rail network has begun generating electricity from 16,000 solar panels installed atop a two-mile rail tunnel on the line running from Paris to Amsterdam.

The panels, built by the Belgian renewable energy company Enfinity, will provide about 50 percent of (more…)

This is a big day for the Department of Transportation, for the Obama Administration, and for the American people.  We are bringing President Obama's vision of American high-speed rail one step closer to reality with $2.02 billion in targeted investments.

And I am thrilled.

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Since the Department of Transportation announced the availability of an additional $2.4 billion for high-speed rail projects last month, governors and members of Congress from both major parties have been clamoring for the opportunity to participate.

As of our Monday deadline, we received (more…)

In recent months, several conservative governors have rejected federal funds to begin constructing high-speed rail lines in their states. But a high-speed rail advocate argues that such ideologically driven actions are folly, as other U.S. states and countries around the world are moving swiftly to embrace a technology that is essential for competitive 21st-century economies. (more…)

Japan has long been at the forefront of high speed rail development since they laid down the first tracks for the Shinkansen system back in the 1960s. Since then, the bullet trains in Japan have grown into the busiest high speed rail line in the world and serve as the example for what high speed rail can become in other countries. Now, with the bullet train technology getting up (more…)

Imagine the last time you took a trip between two American cities.  Maybe you had to wait in line at a crowded airport; maybe you spent hours in traffic in a car or a bus.  Or maybe you made the trip on a train that had to slow down over and over because it was running on outdated tracks.

Now think about the fact that over the next (more…)

A new study identifies the high-speed rail corridors in the U.S. with the greatest potential to attract ridership in the nation’s so-called “megaregions.” The study by the group America 2050 scores 7,870 potential rail corridors using 12 critical factors, including population, employment concentrations, rail transit accessibility, and air travel markets. (more…)

Hot on the heels of the announcement of Russia’s first ever electric vehicle hybrid another announcement came about the bolstering of Russia’s green transportation systems. According to the announcement that came from Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the country is preparing to begin serious work towards a high speed rail system. Russia isn’t alone on this plan either. Many (more…)

High-speed rail has been in the news a lot recently, in the US, in Europe, and in China. Some great news, and some not-so-great news. Here are 8 big stories from the past couple months.

1. The U.S. government awarded $2.4 billion to 54 rail projects in 23 states a couple weeks ago. This is in addition to the $8 billion awarded by the Obama (more…)