The California High Speed Rail Authority

Case Background: - In transportation industry, one of the biggest challenge is how to deal with carbon dioxide emissions and how to reduce the energy. According to the Natural Resources Canada, one third of the greenhouse emission is because of transportation industry.

Three quarters of emissions in 2004 were coming from road traffic (Woodcock, p.1930, 2009). Emissions used from transportation are forecasted to increase from the year 2007-2030 by about 80% according to studies done by James Woodcock who is currently studying climate change and health from car fuels (Woodcock, p.1930, 2009). This is due to the fact that the emissions from vehicles are increasing significantly and are higher than any other energy fragment (Woodcock, p.1930, 2009). The only way to lower this percentage is to decrease the number of individual automobiles on the road and increase the number of public transit systems, starting long distance walking to work or school, carpooling or even biking to destinations. These principles would

Jetstar introduced a passenger Carbon Offset scheme in 2007 in accordance with the government’s “Greenhoues Friendly” initiative (

Beginning January 1, 2017, at least 3% of the aggregate amount of bulk transportation fuel purchased by the state government must be from very low carbon transportation fuel sources. Beginning January 1, 2018, the required amount of very low carbon transportation fuel purchased will increase by 1% annually until January 1, 2024. California is doing their part by trying to minimize pollution until a safer alternative fuel has arrived. Yet, if

The U.S government has been actively involved in overseeing emission standards for years. This corresponds with the statement made by the U.S Department of transportation that, “Transportation is the largest end-use sector emitting CO2”, and also the statement released by the NRCAN in which, “Fuel usage & carbon dioxide emissions have grown steadily over the past two decades.” These factors are only to be associated with your average four door sedan and/or light truck. These do not include your 18 wheelers, heavy trucks, or the gas guzzling vans that emit more carbon dioxide into the air and are also on the road more today than ever have been before. Cars are readily and easily obtainable more so now than ever have been. This creates more fuel to be burned up in which produces more toxins to be constantly released into the atmosphere. In fact, according to Scientific American “cars relate as much as 30 gallons of GHG, while only driving 3 miles.” These miles can be correlated with something just as simple as your average work commute. According to the United States Census Bureau, “Nearly 600,000 full-time workers had "megacommutes" of at least 90 minutes and 50 miles.” Those workers alone would each be releasing up to 500 gallons of GHG. These can be considered some of the bigger factors that the greenhouse gasses have taken a toll on.

The idea of advancing an economy has been a staple in political ideology since the dawn of democracy and politics itself. We as citizens of California are becoming global leaders in climate consciousness, and our efforts are involved in the advancement of eco-friendly systems, in this case, an eco-friendly mode of transportation that will theoretically increase the convenience of interstate travel as well as boost an economy that is already ranked the 8th most prosperous economy in the world. On both ends of the spectrum, both pro and con proponents of high-speed rail travel in California agree that the economic advancement of California is our best

The second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States is related to transportation, the burning of oil to produce energy in a combustion motor. The combustion process inside of engines is what produces the carbon matter that is emitted into the air through the exhaust system on gas-powered vehicles. Gas-powered transportation is accountable for 24 percent of the global carbon emissions; this should not come as much of a surprise given the amount of urban sprawl that is being seen in the United States and across the globe. In the past decade, the Environmental Protection Agency, the United States government, and major car manufacturers have been working in conjunction to find ways to provide a “greener” form of transportation (EPA, 2011). This has included testing the use of hydropower, ethanol, natural gas, biodiesel, and electricity as a means of powering vehicles, which has led to the introduction of hybrid vehicles. Hybrid vehicles run on electricity and gasoline, the byproduct of oil that is generally used in the engine combustion process of vehicles (U.S. Department of

This increase in cars is also not profitable for the Texas environment. “Highway vehicles account for about 40 percent of NOx and 15 percent of VOCs in the United States, according to EPA figures. But power plants, factories, oil refineries, and other industrial facilities are big contributors too” (Hopkins, 2015). An increase in the number of cars will cause and increase in pollution. Also, adding more power plants and oil refineries add to the damage of the environment which assists in the creation of smog.

In addition to his pursuits in battling congestion,Supervisor Haggerty also focuses on the inadvertent effects that congestion plays on the environment. His measures, such as the California Senate Bill 375 which aims to reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses emitted through transportation and housing, vie to help protect the

This document specifically highlights how the Gold Coast City Council is tackling the city’s issue of traffic congestion by improving the existing structure of the roads and public transport. Hopefully this will decrease the number vehicles on the road which will reduce the amount of carbon emissions into the atmosphere (City of Gold Coast, 2013).

Transportation is the number one thing we consumers do that harms the environment. Transportation causes the highest amount of environmental damage overall - nearly half of the toxic air pollution and more than a quarter of the greenhouse gases traceable to household consumption. Over time, however, sales of trucks, vans and SUV's went from 16% market share to over 50%. One big auto manufacturer even shelved their work of the last three years, spent updating their most popular selling economy car, so they could spend the money getting SUVs to market faster.

A Case Study on the California High Speed Rail System (CAHSR) - Is It Feasible?

The increase of passenger weight also greatly impacts the negative externalities of noncommercial highway travel. Every year, 39 million gal of additional fuel in the worth of $105 million are consumed per pound of passenger weight increase (2). In this case the MPB of obese passengers who own larger, less fuel-efficient vehicles to transport them is greater than the MSB due to the fact that more fuel is consumed and therefore greater amounts of CO2 are emitted. An eleven-pound decrease of the average weight could reduce CO2 emissions from this sector by 10 million T yearly, leveling out the difference between the MPB and the MSB from pollution (2).

CO2 emission litigation may concern to FM, the allowed CO2 emission in the environment is 235 grams per miles. FM is needs to reduce this emission and introduce technology that should be environment friendly.

Truck transportation has been the backbone of freight movements in the United States and across the globe for decades. While utilizing trucks is an economical way to move freight for short hauls of less than a 1,000 miles, there are high environmental and infrastructure costs for utilizing this mode of transportation. According to Lowe, road transportation’s use of energy resources rose 103 per cent in the period since 1970 (2005). Additionally, Lowe points out that road transportation’s emission of green house gasses, “increased by 76% between 1971 and 1989” (Lowe, 2005, p. 112). Furthermore, road transportation is the largest polluter in the industry. It utilizes “over 80% of the total energy used in the transport sector and contributes over 75% of its total CO2 output (Lowe, 2005, p. 113). Finally, freight transportation by heavy vehicles causes pavement damage at significantly higher rates than passenger traffic (SSTI, 2011).