As much as we like to remember and talk about the past, we have to think about today and tomorrow. Yesteryear, when villages and even families could survive on their own, today, few of us can. Today, every aspect of our life and of others are highly interconnected, this includes railroads. We have seen greed of a few several years ago raise its ugly head as we see the world in a major financial havoc.

We have some news stations stating incorrect facts that have been stated in this forum, along with some major talk show host with no scientific knowledge pulling numbers out of nowhere stating them as facts stating this is a natural weather cycle while the majority of learned scientist state otherwise.

Some believe that we have past the point of no return and the only thing we can do is to try to slow down the inevitable. Others think there is a small chance that we can turn things around if we act quickly. Greed and not wanting to solve a problem is the main reason our world is in such a mess. There are two options, do nothing and if what we hear about the natural cycle is correct, no harm is done, but if what the expert scientist are saying, spearheaded by Al Gore is correct, the earth is now doomed! What the U.S. has done so far is very little, other than to blame China and India for taking “our oil” and creating the problem as we sit on our fat behinds doing nothing.

What is our answer to the energy crisis, which also is a part of the global financial disaster, is to drill for more oil faster and use “clean” coal – that is being promoted by the coal industry on some of our TV networks. Both coal and oil are limited in supply and when we run out, NO MORE for a few billion years.

We also hear the excuse for not improving our railroads as “The American Love Affair With Their Cars.” Should be “The lack of adequate and efficient public transportation makes Americans use their cars.” Yet, if something works in another country, including China with its double tracks, electrified railroad that is being updated to high-speed-rail between major cities, its cities either installing or upgrading its subway system, not by a few kilometers a year, but many kilometers to do some good. But, with all our resources and brainpower, we are lucky to build a three mile subway system or even light rail that we as a nation have done everything we can to prevent improving our infrastructure. But we have no problem with the phrase “No New Taxes”. In Gwinnett County Georgia, over 80% wanted to improve public transportation, but less than 40% wanted to pay for this improvement.

The world itself is an ego system that is self-adjusting based on many factors. Some are outside or control, but some major aspects are. Egypt is an example when the Nile River overflowed its banks every year and kept the fields fertile, but building a dam has changed that, plus created more pollution destroying its monuments by creating acid rain. Just in the U.S. alone, we are putting pollution in the atmosphere while we are cutting down forests for new homes as we watch our forests also being burned down.

To solve the gridlock problem, the answer is to place tolls on our existing roads to cut down traffic and have some drivers start using inadequate or non-existence public transportation.

No one solution will solve the global warming problem. It is a combination of coordinated fixes from fixing our infrastructures that includes public transportation, which railroads are a major part of to planning our communities and sacrifices on all our parts.

TF