THE NATIONAL: Speeding in the wrong direction

Another stage in America’s recovery from economic crisis is well underway. The nation’s infrastructure is due for an upgrade and a number of states are in line to receive funding to do just that.

With money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, 31 states have been chosen to invest in high-speed rail to better their communities. However, in a shocking move, Florida Governor Rick Scott announced last week that he was giving the money back, leaving his state without the means to achieve this upgrade or the ability to create much-needed jobs.

Why such opposition to high-speed rail? Jenny Erikson with “The Stir,” a café mom blog, quickly jumped online after Gov. Scott’s decision with an op-ed backing it up and mocking any move to invest in high-speed rail. “Because throwing billions of dollars at a choo-choo train is exactly what it’s going to take to fix the economy and lower those unemployment numbers,” Erikson said.

Erikson’s further comments likened such progress to investing in a “shiny new toy,” and stating that the federal government’s place is not to be involved with research and development. Sadly, it is such grand misconceptions and, let’s say…lack of fundamental awareness, that are common in the opposition to move toward high-speed rail or other essential advancements in the United State’s infrastructure.

A common mantra among patriots is that America is the “best.” We have the best minds, businesses, army and so forth. As Erikson wrote, “we are smart, resourceful, entrepreneurial, and innovative.” Sadly, the times tell us that such confidence in our modern country lacks substance to back it up. America is still a great nation, but while once upon a time we could boast such confidence earned off the efforts of past generations, we can no longer make such claims because we just aren’t the best anymore.

All the time America has spent telling ourselves, and the rest of the world, that we are the best, the rest of the world spent surpassing us in many regards. South Korea has found ways to provide their country with Internet access that puts America’s to shame. Europe and China have far better rail capability than we do. China in particular is advancing their roadways quickly, and have the advantage of learning from decades of American experience in that field—avoiding our mistakes and finding new ways to succeed beyond us.

In America the roads suffer, and rail is an embarrassment compared to the world with which we compete. Other infrastructure also remains in need of upgrades.

These aren’t “choo-choo” trains. What we are lacking in this country is a rail system that can move goods faster than a truck or sometimes even an airplane. We currently do not have the capability, as most of the advanced world does, to move people great distances and great speeds without utilizing an airplane ticket. Likening such modern improvements as high-speed rail to a choo-choo is not only misleading, it’s plainly uninformed.

High-speed rail is not only advanced beyond what we have now, it is also far more efficient. In Portland, the TriMet system that includes the MAX, a light rail commuter system and the envy of other U.S. cities, carries passengers throughout various communities. At speeds far less than a high-speed passenger train, a single TriMet passenger carries the fuel efficiency of packing 9.5 people in a single car. Imagine the possibilities of more advanced systems.

Another misconception common to this opposition, and one that Erikson promotes, is that the government has no business in developing the country in such a manner. Erikson might be surprised that the electricity she used to type out that argument was established through public works projects decades prior that brought electricity to homes all across America. The roads we travel on every day that service our economy were also the result of a public effort. In fact, a number of the greatest advancements across various fields have been the result of government efforts. The United States military alone is responsible for everything from medical achievements that save lives to the GPS in our cars.

Erikson is correct about one thing: Adding high-speed rail to the State of Florida won’t fix the economy. It won’t—alone, that is. Along with other moves, it can be part of what not only adds to an economic recovery, but also brings America back into the modern world. It will indeed help the economy, and it will add jobs—something Florida greatly needs. Now boasting the third highest unemployment rate in the nation at 12 percent, Florida has people looking for work. Like it or not, the last moment of economic strife that rivals today’s slump—though admittedly worse—was the great depression. It was a crisis that required a number of years packed with public works projects to break out of, which ultimately improved the nation.

It is difficult to find a reasonable understanding in Gov. Scott’s decision. Could it be that after another historic election season that brought in greater Republican influence and promised “change,” nothing in fact has changed? Republicans could very well remain clinging to their tired mantra of “no”—a mantra that serves Republican self-interest before the American people.

If Florida decides against bringing their state up to speed and refuses the ability to better themselves, that is their prerogative. However, such a decision should not be taken without the awareness that not only will that state be left behind the rest of the country, they will be left behind the rest of the world. ?