Building Green

"We need to create incentive for the private sector to invest in the economy."

I am not sure we can do such a thing, nothing we have tried has worked yet.  What we can do is chart a path to a new future, one less dependent upon fossil fuels, with a focus on sustainability as its mainstay virtue.  We can say that the status quo is simply unacceptable, and that we need to build a better system.  This too will spur economic growth.

Our country's current rail system is operating on 100 year old technology.  Most railways now are designed to handle traffic not to exceed 90 mph.  Current high speed rail systems operate at rates more than double our fastest rail capabilities.

Imagine a rail system that could get you and your car across the country in a day.  The railway itself is covered with solar panels and wind turbines, so that the entire system is fueled by renewable energy.  Once built, it would offer inexpensive fast travel of both you and your vehicle to anywhere in the U.S.

I think this would spur all kinds of economic growth.  We'd need to hire people to build the structure here, and if we used an American company, we could put our citizens to work building the railcars and tracks.

Let's build a high speed rail system, by and for the American economy, in a completely green manner.

The hitch is that you can't pay for this with tax cuts.