[FRIAM] Bad news about the climate

[cody dooderson]

Some would argue that the rail network has not only been neglected but
sabotaged in favor of automobiles. For instance, the Los Angeles trolly
system was bought by car companies and basically dismantled.


The system was sold in 1944 by Huntington's estate to American City Lines,
> Inc., of Chicago, a subsidiary of National City Lines
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_City_Lines>, a holding company
> that was purchasing transit systems across the country.[22]
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Railway#cite_note-22> The sale
> was announced December 5, 1944, but the purchase price was not disclosed.
> [23] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Railway#cite_note-23> National
> City Lines, along with its investors that included Firestone Tire
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firestone_Tire>, Standard Oil of California
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Oil_of_California> (now Chevron
> Corporation) and General Motors
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_Corporation>, were later
> convicted of conspiring to monopolize the sale of buses and related
> products to local transit companies controlled by National City Lines and
> other companies[n 1]
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Railway#cite_note-para33_group=-24> in
> what became known as the General Motors streetcar conspiracy
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy>.
> National City Lines purchased Key System
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_System>, which operated the streetcar
> system in Oakland, California, the following year.

-- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Railway

_ Cody Smith _
cody at simtable.com


On Tue, Jan 30, 2024 at 2:54 PM Jochen Fromm <jofr at cas-group.net> wrote:

> Yes, a good high speed railway network would be able to reduce air
> traffic. France for instance has banned short-haul domestic flights in
> favor of train travel
>
> https://www.euronews.com/green/2022/12/02/is-france-banning-private-jets-everything-we-know-from-a-week-of-green-transport-proposals
>
> If this railway map is accurate, then the railway network in the US is
> much more sparse than in the EU or in China. Has it been neglected in favor
> of automobiles and airplanes?
> https://flowingdata.com/2024/01/30/world-railway-map/
>
> -J.
>
>
> -------- Original message --------
> From: Marcus Daniels <marcus at snoutfarm.com>
> Date: 1/30/24 4:34 PM (GMT+01:00)
> To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam at redfish.com>
>
> Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Bad news about the climate
>
> The U.S. could develop high speed rail to avoid use of aircraft.
> Aircraft could be based on H2.   Because of the low specific gravity of H2,
> that would mean devoting more space to storage of H2.  That would increase
> the price, which itself is a fine way to moderate use of air travel and
> gratuitous transportation.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com> On Behalf Of glen
> Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2024 7:15 AM
> To: friam at redfish.com
> Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Bad news about the climate
>
> Yeah, I'm not so sure that's the right tack. I mean, airlines (and
> airplane mfgs) aren't the most earth friendly enterprises, at their core.
> Even if we could magically swap out a zero emissions fuel (which we can't:
> https://www.wri.org/insights/us-sustainable-aviation-fuel-emissions-impacts),
> we will still see door plugs popping out because we can't be bothered to
> check every little nook and cranny just to save a few measly human lives.
> (Why do we freak out so much when an airplane goes down? So many more
> people die horribly in other circumstances.)
>
> This entitled fetish we have for synchronous meatspace interactions makes
> for a more efficient target. Powering your internet bandwidth with more
> sustainable electricity is way more likely to reduce emissions than biofuel
> ever will.
>
>
> On 1/29/24 19:20, Leigh Fanning wrote:
> > At some point we'll have SAF at scale.
> >
> > https://www.energy.gov/eere/bioenergy/sustainable-aviation-fuels
> >
>
> --
> ꙮ Mɥǝu ǝlǝdɥɐuʇs ɟᴉƃɥʇ' ʇɥǝ ƃɹɐss snɟɟǝɹs˙ ꙮ
>
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