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energy security
High Speed Rail Ends U.S. Oil Dependency Quickly & Permanently
hsr saves energy
hsr = freedom from petro-dictators
Building an electrically-powered national high speed rail network across America is the single most powerful thing we can do to get the nation off oil and into a secure, sustainable form of mobility.
High speed rail is oil-free transportation delivering high-capacity mobility free from the influence of petro-dictators. A national network of high speed trains can be powered by a combination of renewable energy sources including wind, solar, geothermal, and ocean/tidal energy.
America's dependency on oil is the most severe in the world, and inevitably pulls us into costly resource wars. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice alerted the nation to our growing energy problems back in 2006 saying: “The quicker we get about the business of reducing our reliance on oil, the better we're going to be." America has only 5% of the total world population, but uses 25% of the world's oil! And we only have 2% of the known world oil reserves. This means we are extremely vulnerable and dependent on the rest of the world for most of the oil we need to run the nation. This includes running all our transportation networks (cars, trucks, buses, airplanes, ships, diesel trains, etc.), the majority of our agricultural production and food delivery, and running the U.S. Military (the world's largest oil consumer). We use 8-10 times more oil per person per day than Western Europeans, and they have faster, easier and better mobility than we do. The extremely high daily oil consumption of Americans is not due to a higher standard of living, but because of the extremely inefficient nature of our national transportation system – based on over-sized, individual vehicles powered by internal combustion engines, combined with our sprawling community designs that force people into long car trips for everything they need.
America's dependency on oil is the most severe in the world, and inevitably pulls us into costly resource wars. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice alerted the nation to our growing energy problems back in 2006 saying: “The quicker we get about the business of reducing our reliance on oil, the better we're going to be." America has only 5% of the total world population, but uses 25% of the world's oil! And we only have 2% of the known world oil reserves. This means we are extremely vulnerable and dependent on the rest of the world for most of the oil we need to run the nation. This includes running all our transportation networks (cars, trucks, buses, airplanes, ships, diesel trains, etc.), the majority of our agricultural production and food delivery, and running the U.S. Military (the world's largest oil consumer). We use 8-10 times more oil per person per day than Western Europeans, and they have faster, easier and better mobility than we do. The extremely high daily oil consumption of Americans is not due to a higher standard of living, but because of the extremely inefficient nature of our national transportation system – based on over-sized, individual vehicles powered by internal combustion engines, combined with our sprawling community designs that force people into long car trips for everything they need.
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transport oil problems ahead
America's annual foreign oil purchase adds up to a whopping $700 Billion per year foreign trade deficit, literally draining our economy, and transferring our wealth to oil-supplying nations.
Many of the nations that still have oil left are located in troubled, terrorist-ridden regions of the world. Our serious oil dependency shapes U.S. foreign policy, defense/military policy, and forces us to spend hundreds of billions of dollars (and countless lives) chasing, securing, and shipping oil supplies. U.S. oil dependence guarantees America will be engaged in resource wars for decades (until we get off oil). People are actually dying every day around the world so we can continue driving single-occupant SUVs here in America!
2/3 of the oil we use in America comes from foreign nations mostly from the other side of the world. To secure this oil, and to make sure it continues flowing to America, as much as half of our $800 Billion annual U.S. Defense budget goes directly to the protection of oil shipments back to the USA - to fill our SUV gas tanks! This represents a massive $400 Billion per year subsidy to oil-based transportation! (This is in addition to the $700 Billion per year foreign oil purchase!) High speed rail solves this serious and growing energy supply problem. HSR is electric and super efficient, making it the world's greenest form of transportation that can be 100% powered by renewable energy - bypassing the entire global-oil-military-supply-chain. The California HSR system under construction in the Central Valley will be powered 100% by renewables!
2/3 of the oil we use in America comes from foreign nations mostly from the other side of the world. To secure this oil, and to make sure it continues flowing to America, as much as half of our $800 Billion annual U.S. Defense budget goes directly to the protection of oil shipments back to the USA - to fill our SUV gas tanks! This represents a massive $400 Billion per year subsidy to oil-based transportation! (This is in addition to the $700 Billion per year foreign oil purchase!) High speed rail solves this serious and growing energy supply problem. HSR is electric and super efficient, making it the world's greenest form of transportation that can be 100% powered by renewable energy - bypassing the entire global-oil-military-supply-chain. The California HSR system under construction in the Central Valley will be powered 100% by renewables!
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Oil Industry Expert: Oil Supply Problems Coming
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