One of the CARRD founders, Rita Wespi, has brought a new article about the British HS2 high-speed rail project to my attention. We've previously posted articles about this project in this blog.
There are government agencies that are pushing this project like crazy, and there are residents between London and Birmingham, as well as as far north as Edinburgh, who strenuously object to this train project. Sounds just like us. The train promoters are offering to plant 2 million trees to conceal and muffle the 17 billion Pound train. That's lipstick on a pig, as far as I'm concerned.
Please note that they make the point that the train will be "carbon neutral." It will not reduce CO2 emissions any more than flying or driving. That is certainly counter-intuitive and contrary to all the promotional verbiage about how 'green' HSR is. Academic scholars have disproved those contentions frequently, but it's obviously very difficult to overturn an endlessly repeated myth.
The critics in the UK have an organization called the 'HS2 Action Alliance.' Their spokesman makes the objection-point perfectly and planting trees, he says, is certainly not the answer. He points out that: ". . . . it does not address the key issue that this is the wrong investment priority for Britain. When hard-pressed commuters are footing the bill for the lack of investment in the railways do we really need the government to push on with spending £1,000 for every household in the UK on a railway that we don't need?"
And that rhetorical question is the one we are also asking. Why are we building a train we can't afford and that we don't need?
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/jan/07/high-speed-rail-trees-shelter
High-speed rail route to get 2m trees for shelter
Government to line London-Birmingham high-speed rail route with trees to help contain noise and keep trains from view
Dan Milmo, transport correspondent
The Guardian, Friday 7 January 2011
Residents next to the 250mph high-speed rail route between London and Birmingham will be sheltered from the £17bn project by 2m freshly planted trees, the government will announce today.
In its latest attempt to mitigate growing public outrage in Tory heartlands over the scheme, the construction of the route through the Chiltern hills and other beauty spots in the home counties will be accompanied by a planting programme.
The line goes through Tory constituencies in Buckinghamshire, Warwickshire and Northamptonshire, where many people view the High Speed Two project as destructive.
The transport secretary, Philip Hammond, said the trees would help to muffle the sound of ultra-fast services and keep the trains from view, as well creating new plant habitats.
"While it will boost growth nationally, I know that many people living along the line of the route are worried about the perceived impact on their local landscape. That is why I am determined that we will do everything possible to try and reduce the impact of the line, including extensive woodland planting to screen the railway," he said.
Hammond said the trees would help offset the environmental impact of building and operating the line. The green case for building the line has been weakened by the admission that it will be carbon neutral, meaning that it will emit as much carbon dioxide as it saves in terms of road and air journeys.
The public opposition has drawn some concessions. Last month the government said it would change parts of the route in Warwickshire, Staffordshire and Northamptonshire, including running the line through deeper cuttings and using "green tunnels" to cover some sections.
A consultation on the route opens next month and the government has shown no wavering in its determination to begin building the route in about six years' time, with the first train due to operate in 2025.
Opponents said the tree-planting announcement did not address the central flaws in the plans. "We welcome the planting of any new trees," said Julian Smyth-Osbourne, a spokesman for the HS2 Action Alliance.
"However, it does not address the key issue that this is the wrong investment priority for Britain. When hard-pressed commuters are footing the bill for the lack of investment in the railways do we really need the government to push on with spending £1,000 for every household in the UK on a railway that we don't need?"
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2011
