This year, K and I are spending Thanksgiving with K’s family in Portland, OR.  Rather than join the masses in one of the largest aviatorial migrations of the year, however, we’ve chosen to take our time on the 2,000+ mile trip from Chicago to Portland via Amtrak.  Not only is this transportation option only half the cost of flying during the busy travel week, information from the Research and Innovative Technology Administration’s (RITA) Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) points out that travel by Amtrak uses at least 45% less energy per passenger as compared to domestic air-travel; motorcycle transportation being the only less energy-intensive means of transportation per passenger than Amtrak by just a narrow margin.

Juxtapose the aforementioned information with the current energy/climate crisis facing the U.S. and the information that the transportation sector accounts for over 25% of the total CO2 emissions from Fossil Fuel Combustion (according to an EPA report earlier this year), and I wonder at why more support isn’t being given to both passenger and freight rail operations in the U.S.

My wonders at a the lack of support for such an elegant and already technologically-feasible step toward our sustainable future are not unique.  In Chicago, both the Midwest High Speed Rail Association as well as the Environmental Law and Policy Center (among others, I’m sure) are running strong initiatives with the goal of building a regional high-speed passenger train infrastructure that, with the support of consumers, would decrease the greenhouse gas emissions of regional travel by shifting travelers’ means of transportation to a more efficient option.  In California this November, the Midwest High Sped Rail Association reports that “proposition 1A will provide $9.95 billion in state-backed bonds for a $40 billion, 700-mile network of 220-mph trains and improvements to other rail services that would connect to the high-speed system.”  An article from the Next American City magazine entitled A New Era for Train Travel? provides a detailed account of the benefits and challenges of the future of the U.S. rail infrastructure.

On our two-day trip to and from Portland for Thanksgiving, K and I will travel through the unparalleled landscape of the northwestern U.S.  We will start and end our vacation on a relaxing note rather than the stress and bustle of an airport, and have time in-transit to comfortably read, reflect and reconnect with each other and the beauty of the scenery around us.  At the same time, we will be showing our support for a much more efficient and sustainable alternative to the status-quo, unsustainable travel-options.