(Hard to think we can get to where we need to go with a piecemeal approach, but this kind of commitment would be a good start. – promoted by eli_beckerman)

If you’ve been paying attention to the discussion of high-speed rail since Obama took office, you know that there’s been movement towards building more high-speed corridors to add to the current count of one (the Amtrak “Acela” train in the Northeast Corridor that runs between Boston and DC). ( In fact, Wired.com put together a feature on this a few months ago with pretty pictures of the proposed corridors, which you can check out here: http://www.wired.com/magazine/… )

It’s not explicitly mentioned in the Wired article, but there’s been talk for some time of a high-speed link between Boston and Montreal. I really like the idea of rail, and especially high-speed rail, since it helps get cars off the roads for long hauls (in many instances, along corridors like I-95 when a long car ride south means sitting in multiple metro regions’ traffic anyway). And if they could figure out a way to make it competitive with air travel,  that would be even better.

As we’ve seen and keep seeing, the amount of oil we keep using isn’t doing anyone any favors (to say the least), so any pressure we can put on governments to look for either alternate forms of fuel or alternate forms of transportation helps us work toward a goal of less use. Even if this seems like a long way off solution, there’s been increased support and groundwork being laid recently to get better rail off the ground. So, if you’re interested in showing your support for increased rail in the US, give this link a look: http://www.fourbillion.com/