Skip to main content
Donate

$100 Billion High-Speed Rail Estimate is 'Way Off,' Says Brown

By Ed Fuentes
January 31, 2012
Support Provided By
Photo: Courtesy California High-Speed Rail Authority
Photo: Courtesy California High-Speed Rail Authority

Despite recent changes in leadership and unpopular public opinion, Governor Jerry Brown still supports high-speed rail and is campaigning on behalf of the project, as seen on ABC 7's Eyewitness Newsmakers this past Sunday, assuring the costs will not soar to $100 billion. "That's way off," he said.

The Governor is fighting high-speed rail detractors who have momentum since a peer budget review report earlier this month said costs have soared and a poll revealed that voters wish for a do-over of Prop 1a, which boosted the project's budget with bond money in 2008.

"Phase 1, I'm trying to redesign it in a way that in and of itself will be justified by the state investment," Brown said, before introducing an idea for additional funding from a Cap and Trade measure "where you make people who produce greenhouse gasses pay certain fees. That will be a source of funding going forward for the high-speed rail."

California state auditors last week released a follow-up review warning that the project's ability in securing federal funding is at risk, supporting previous findings from the Legislative Analyst's Office and the Authority's own peer review group

On Monday, State Senator Doug LaMalfa introduced legislation that would allow voters to reconsider the $9 billion bond measure passed in 2008, placing the fate of high-speed rail on California's November ballot.

Combined with federal funds, the state has up to $12 billion to start the project in the Central Valley, yet can lose the money if construction on the Merced-to-Bakersfield leg does not begin later this year, according to California Watch.

"We can connect this thing," said Brown, fighting off "train to nowhere" criticisms. "It's going to be a lot cheaper than people are saying."

Support Provided By
Read More
Gray industrial towers and stacks rise up from behind the pitched roofs of warehouse buildings against a gray-blue sky, with a row of yellow-gold barrels with black lids lined up in the foreground to the right of a portable toilet.

California Isn't on Track To Meet Its Climate Change Mandates. It's Not Even Close.

According to the annual California Green Innovation Index released by Next 10 last week, California is off track from meeting its climate goals for the year 2030, as well as reaching carbon neutrality by 2045.
By Alejandro Lazo, CalMatters
A row of cows stands in individual cages along a line of light-colored enclosures, placed along a dirt path under a blue sky dotted with white puffy clouds.

A Battle Is Underway Over California’s Lucrative Dairy Biogas Market

California is considering changes to a program that has incentivized dairy biogas, to transform methane emissions into a source of natural gas. Neighbors are pushing for an end to the subsidies because of its impact on air quality and possible water pollution.
By Emma Foehringer Merchant, Inside Climate News
A Black woman with long, black brains wears a black Chicago Bulls windbreaker jacket with red and white stripes as she stands at the top of a short staircase in a housing complex and rests her left hand on the metal railing. She smiles slightly while looking directly at the camera.

Los Angeles County Is Testing AI's Ability To Prevent Homelessness

In order to prevent people from becoming homeless before it happens, Los Angeles County officials are using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to predict who in the county is most likely to lose their housing. They would then step in to help those people with their rent, utility bills, car payments and more so they don't become unhoused.
By Marisa Kendall, CalMatters