Throughout the United States, the use of clean technologies can only go so far with the private sector pushing for the use of sources of renewable energy and for the adoption of more energy efficient policies. The truth is that the cleantech sector is only as strong as the governor that assists in pushing (more…)

The most noteworthy achievement of Schwarzenegger’s governorship is AB32, the state’s landmark global warming law. This groundbreaking effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has created a momentum for investments in the state. Here is one of the success stories: (more…)

Of all the lines in the envisioned US high speed rail network, California is the one with the most momentum behind it. The state has started to fund the line that is designed to take passengers from San Francisco to Los Angeles in two and a half hours. Money is the biggest obstacle to realizing America’s rail modernization, but California is countering this problem by showing the value added these trains will bring to the state.

Concerns over cost is the principle argument against high speed rail in the US, but independent economic studies done on the feasibility of the project show that the line will generate $1 billion in surplus revenue annually after completion. Start-up costs for this infrastructure in the nation’s most populous state are estimated to be roughly half of what it would cost not to build the route. Highway and airport expansion would be much more costly and detrimental to the environment. These facts are pushing California to have the nation’s first true high speed rail at the current pace of development.

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