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["Don Bowen" <don.bowen AT earthlink.net>]

>  I've been saying for years that we shouldn't be tearing up rail
> lines, even as we've torn up thousands of miles. Durn, I was right. Durn, 
> nobody cares.
On a trip to Spokane Washington last year I noticed rail lines that were in 
place in the eighties are now torn up.  Rail lines that used to be 
electrified and powered by the abundant hydro plants are now hiking trails, 
rails and bridges hauled away for scrap.  One of the things we should be 
investing in now is repair of the rail lines.  California is looking at a 
high speed train between San Francisco, LA and San Diego.  It is mired in 
regional politics but I suspect that when they start wanting money the 
project will collapse.  Then as oil becomes more and more expensive they 
will not be able to afford it.

One thing we are forgetting is that much of what we know is there because of 
cheap oil and any fixes are getting more expensive as oil gets more 
expensive.  I also believe in peak oil.  I have read and researched it and 
the signs are that we already hit peak a couple of years ago at 85 Mb a day. 
We are sailing blindly  into the abyss and no one seems to want to mention 
it, least of all presidential candidates.  They are too busy talking about 
today's problems.

Don Bowen      KI6DIU
http://www.braingarage.com/Dons/Travels/journal/Journal.html