Comments on: High-speed rail lawsuits pit CA vs. USA

By: Hondo

Hondo — Mon, 22 Dec 2014 03:38:16 +0000

I believe this project will end being like the ‘Big Dig’ in Boston only exponentially worse. Don’t expect much money from the Repubs in Washington. There is only so much they can steal from cap and trade. And the epic unfunded pensions will keep the state from spending enough money on that project. Their only hope is going back to the public with another tax hike. Good luck there.
At best, riders from Fresno to Bakersfield are gonna get a shiny, new un- godly expensive commuter system.
The section from Bakersfield to LA, over those insane, earthquake prone, condor infested Tehachapi mountains, will be a legal, environmental, and engineering nightmare. After a couple condors get blown to feathers while munching on some dead rabbit on the tracks, will the green peace nuts file a lawsuit? They’re too busy destroying the Nazca lines in South America.
This is the slowest motion train wreck I’ve ever seen.
Hondo…….

By: Kathy Hamilton

Kathy Hamilton — Fri, 19 Dec 2014 22:57:57 +0000

Here’s the catch Nancy, they cannot use bond money for construction and as long as they’re not, they are free to do as they please. Prop 1A authorized the construction using HSR bond funds with certain caveats. But the Authority is using Federal money and cap-and-trade funds. They can’t use bond funds because they haven’t completed all the environmental work nor located the funds to build the first 300 miles.

The thing I find most interesting is the environmental community hasn’t realized they have not protested funding this project with cap-and-trade funds meant to improve the environment. The Authority has a ruling now from a federal agency saying they don’t have to follow state environmental laws. Interesting indeed.

By: Nancy Keeler

Nancy Keeler — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 17:09:37 +0000

Over and above the environmental concerns and eminent domain issues, what about the fact that this monstrosity is not what people voted for. It will NOT be high speed and the costs have skyrocketed to an amount that people would not agree with.