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Enviro Benefits of High Speed Rail

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The Information Aesthetics blog links to a smart little video produced by German railroaders Deutsch Bahn. During yesterday's discussion about the California High Speed Rail project one commenter questioned why we need the HSR when we have Southwest Airlines. Naturally, we find our answer with CO2, one of those nasty greenhouse gases that the state is now mandated to reduce to 1990 levels per Assembly Bill 32 (The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006). Via the video we learn that taking the 292 mile trip between Frankfurt and Paris by airplane releases eight times more CO2 than taking the same trip (and arriving in the same time) by high speed rail. And going by car? Not only are you slower, but you're also releasing six times more CO2 than if you had chosen the train. Now you know. And as that horrible G.I. Joe movie said, knowing is half the battle. [Information Aesthetics/video available on Info Aesthetics site, just scroll down]