Leroy N. Soetoro
2023-06-22 19:01:27 UTC
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/california-imaginary-solar-
train
When California voters passed a referendum in 2008 to construct a high-
speed rail connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco, there was no shortage
of skeptics. Forty-seven percent of the state voted against the plan, and
a group of think tanks issued a nearly 200-page report that year arguing
costs would skyrocket, ridership would not match projections, and the
environmental benefits were overstated.
The skeptics, of course, have been vindicated. But few thought it would be
as bad as it has since turned out to be. Fifteen years, and countless
setbacks later, not a single mile of track has been laid, and estimated
costs have risen to $128 billion or $200 million per mile. There is no
money left, and even the secretary of the California State Transportation
Agency now admits, We cant get this project done without federal
support. Its just not going to happen.
APPRENTICESHIPS ARE AN ALTERNATIVE TO HIGH TUITION COLLEGE DEGREES
Nevertheless, Forbes reported last week that the California High-Speed
Rail Authority now plans for the entire project to be powered by solar
energy once it is complete because why not? After all, it is not as if
this bullet train is ever going to exist anyway. As such, its visionaries
certainly have an interest in periodically devising new, wholly
unrealistic schemes that appeal to those who voted for it as a way of
distracting from their incompetence.
Calif. High Speed Rail
A full-scale mock-up of a high-speed train is displayed at the Capitol in
Sacramento, Calif.
(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)
Forbes noted the plan includes 552 acres of solar panels generating 44
megawatts of electricity and that work could begin by 2026 to ensure
its ready to power trains by 2030. But anybody paying attention to the
progress made thus far knows this is a pipe dream for a few reasons.
For starters, solar energy is incredibly unreliable because solar panels
do not produce energy when it is dark or there is bad weather. Not only
that, but there is no other bullet train in the world that is fully
powered by renewables. Considering Californias high-speed rail is
already teed up to be uniquely inefficient relative to those in other
parts of the world, both in terms of speed and cost, it seems unlikely to
be exemplary in this domain. And last, the initial plan was passed in 2008
to be completed and operational in 2020. But it is now 2023, and there is
nothing to show for the intervening 15 years. Adding another, even more
complicated element on top of what has already proven to be difficult for
California seems like a recipe for even more failure.
This is exactly how scams work: huge promises, no results, and then more
huge promises to cover up the fact there were no results in the first
instance. Evidently, there is no bigger scam than progressive governance.
The reason is unmistakable: When on the ground reality inevitably clashes
with the progressive imagination, reality wins every time and the people
pay the price.
Jack Elbaum is a summer 2023 Washington Examiner fellow.
--
We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.
Durham Report: The FBI has an integrity problem. It has none.
No collusion - Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III, March 2019.
Officially made Nancy Pelosi a two-time impeachment loser.
Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.
Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.
President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed
dozens of judges and three SCOTUS justices.
train
When California voters passed a referendum in 2008 to construct a high-
speed rail connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco, there was no shortage
of skeptics. Forty-seven percent of the state voted against the plan, and
a group of think tanks issued a nearly 200-page report that year arguing
costs would skyrocket, ridership would not match projections, and the
environmental benefits were overstated.
The skeptics, of course, have been vindicated. But few thought it would be
as bad as it has since turned out to be. Fifteen years, and countless
setbacks later, not a single mile of track has been laid, and estimated
costs have risen to $128 billion or $200 million per mile. There is no
money left, and even the secretary of the California State Transportation
Agency now admits, We cant get this project done without federal
support. Its just not going to happen.
APPRENTICESHIPS ARE AN ALTERNATIVE TO HIGH TUITION COLLEGE DEGREES
Nevertheless, Forbes reported last week that the California High-Speed
Rail Authority now plans for the entire project to be powered by solar
energy once it is complete because why not? After all, it is not as if
this bullet train is ever going to exist anyway. As such, its visionaries
certainly have an interest in periodically devising new, wholly
unrealistic schemes that appeal to those who voted for it as a way of
distracting from their incompetence.
Calif. High Speed Rail
A full-scale mock-up of a high-speed train is displayed at the Capitol in
Sacramento, Calif.
(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)
Forbes noted the plan includes 552 acres of solar panels generating 44
megawatts of electricity and that work could begin by 2026 to ensure
its ready to power trains by 2030. But anybody paying attention to the
progress made thus far knows this is a pipe dream for a few reasons.
For starters, solar energy is incredibly unreliable because solar panels
do not produce energy when it is dark or there is bad weather. Not only
that, but there is no other bullet train in the world that is fully
powered by renewables. Considering Californias high-speed rail is
already teed up to be uniquely inefficient relative to those in other
parts of the world, both in terms of speed and cost, it seems unlikely to
be exemplary in this domain. And last, the initial plan was passed in 2008
to be completed and operational in 2020. But it is now 2023, and there is
nothing to show for the intervening 15 years. Adding another, even more
complicated element on top of what has already proven to be difficult for
California seems like a recipe for even more failure.
This is exactly how scams work: huge promises, no results, and then more
huge promises to cover up the fact there were no results in the first
instance. Evidently, there is no bigger scam than progressive governance.
The reason is unmistakable: When on the ground reality inevitably clashes
with the progressive imagination, reality wins every time and the people
pay the price.
Jack Elbaum is a summer 2023 Washington Examiner fellow.
--
We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.
Durham Report: The FBI has an integrity problem. It has none.
No collusion - Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III, March 2019.
Officially made Nancy Pelosi a two-time impeachment loser.
Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.
Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.
President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed
dozens of judges and three SCOTUS justices.