With the fires in LA it’s hard to feel optimistic about the future. I want to be reminded that all is not lost, we need to do a lot that likely won’t be done but there are still things to do.
So let’s say Climate Stalin became Supreme Leader of the World or just President of the United States tomorrow. Whats next? What steps do we take to stop climate change getting worse and mitigate the damage we’ve already done?
Basically what China is doing right now but with even more investment in rail. China is doing really well with high speed rail but still is spending far too much money on roads.
I would start with China’s infrastructure strategy, but add on top:
-Decimate the road budget and spend it all on trams and trolleybuses. Ban the sale of new cars.
-Ban the use of semi-trucks and build electric freight rail to all industries.
-Build more rural rail lines, all electrified, to serve the community, and use timed transfers to allow for lower frequencies (what the Swiss do)
-Shut down all fossil fuel plants as soon as possible
-twice daily or more freight service to all industries to make up for lost truck capacity
Uhhh now that I look at it this is kind of what Switzerland is already doing. The main difference is that the Swiss are reliant on extractive markets in other countries and are in no way socialist. Nonetheless, the Swiss rail network is excellent and well worth emulating in many facets.