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
A blonde woman wearing a light grey skirt suit stands with her back to the camera as she holds a sheet of paper and addresses a panel at the front of a courtroom

California Passed a Law To Stop 'Pay to Play' in Local Politics. After Two Years, Legislators Want to Gut It

California legislators who backed a 2022 law limiting businesses' and contractors' attempts to sway local elected officials with campaign contributions are now trying to water it down — with the support of developers and labor unions.
By Yue Stella Yu, CalMatters
An oil pump painted white with red accents stands mid-pump on a dirt road under a blue, cloudy sky with a green, grassy slope in the background.

California’s First Carbon Capture Project: Vital Climate Tool or License to Pollute?

California’s first attempt to capture and sequester carbon involves California Resources Corp. collecting emissions at its Elk Hills Oil and Gas Field, and then inject the gases more than a mile deep into a depleted oil reservoir. The goal is to keep carbon underground and out of the atmosphere, where it traps heat and contributes to climate change. But some argue polluting industries need to cease altogether.
By Alejandro Lazo, CalMatters
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