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And it is awesome.  High speed rail!  High speed rail! High speed rail!

Um, sorry.  I got a little carried away…

With all the depressing economic news these days, I found this CNN report to offer a little bit of hope. Here’s how the economic stimulus package is already beginning to help workers in green technology:

At a summit in Philadelphia on Friday, Vice President Joe Biden
said people who make $20 per hour before a green jobs training program
can make $50 per hour after. On average, the clean-energy jobs pay 10
to 20 percent more than similar work outside the field, he said.

Adding to the enthusiasm, Biden cited a recent case in Chicago where a
maker of energy-efficient windows intends to gradually rehire 250
workers who were laid off when their window company closed late last
year.

There is a “very direct” correlation between the stimulus
package and Serious Materials’ ability to reopen the plant, said Sandra
Vaughan, chief marketing officer for the California-based company.

I’m a strong believer that what is going to help get us out of this crisis is innovation and growth in the green tech sector. But as this report suggests, in order for these companies to grow, banks are going to have to lend again. That is why, as unpopular as the bank bailouts are, I believe they are necessary.

N700 Bullet Train Debuts in Japan, July 1, 2007 (Photograph by Ren Zhenglai/Xinhua/WPN)

Apparently the stimulus may make high-speed trains in California a reality, and this is great news. America badly needs an updgrade in its rail system. It’s a national shame that Japan, China, and Europe have high-speed rail but we do not. The N700 bullet train in Japan is pretty amazing, and when you read about it you just have to shake your head in wonder at the fact that don’t have one of these here in the US.

Here are the corridors that have been proposed at the Department of Transportation for high-speed rail:

Dept. of Transportation Designated High-Speed Rail Corridors, January 2002

Unfortunately, this is a very expensive undertaking and it’s unlikely that even the $8 billion will be enough to make it possible in more places than California. In fact, it’s questionable as to whether high-speed rail will really happen in California since that $8 billion will be spread out among competing parts of the country.

High-speed rail obviously has many benefits, including lessening our dependence on foreign oil and protecting the environment. There would be an obvious economic benefit in job creation that the construction of a high-speed rail network would entail. But there’s also a lot of symbolism in undertaking this project. When John F. Kennedy decided to put a man on the moon, his critics thought that he was crazy for spending so much money on a project that didn’t have any clear economic benefit. But President Kennedy knew that the innovations that were involved in the project would boost America’s leadership role in science and technology, giving us an edge over the Soviet Union. It gave rise to many more young people studying science and engineering and it provided the country with a sense of confidence and optimism. In the same way, green cars and high-speed trains are two innovations that could leave President Obama with a legacy of bringing the United States into the 21st century.

An interesting analysis here that is more insightful than anything I’ve read thus far about the incentives in the stimulus bill for green cars. I know the plug-in neighborhood electric vehicles (aka “golf carts” to Republicans) have gotten a lot of criticism as being pork, but this analysis suggests that the spending on NEVs may have the most immediate impact among all the spending on green cars in the bill.