by Tim Castleman
At any given moment there are about 3000 jet aircraft hurtling along at nearly 600 MPH carrying several tons of explosive fuel and around one hundred or more passengers. On holidays the number doubles to 6000 potential Weapons of Mass Destruction blasting in and out of the very heart of our population centers hundreds of times per day.
All it takes is a few dedicated individuals, or even just one person with nothing left to lose, well who has not seen the potential for devastation worldwide on color TV from the events of 9/11/01?
This industry that serves less than 1% of the public each day consumes tens of billions of taxpayer dollars in the form of subsidies, tax relief, grants, and political favor. How many tens of billions? It is hard to calculate the total because of the cozy relationship to the defense industry. The very same companies that build, maintain and profit from passenger aircraft also build bombs and weapons to wage war from the air, raining death and destruction from 30,000 feet. The crossover into space should not be forgotten, and all of the related industries and jobs that result from all this technological ingenuity that always needs an enemy to destroy.
But wait! It gets even more disgusting when we come face to face with the reality that it is the average American who likes jet air travel so much that they are willing to ignore this reality of the most energy intensive, polluting, hazardous way to travel ever devised.
Even the most vocal and active ecological preservation groups are consumers, even promoters, of jet air travel. None has taken this particular bull by the horns. In fact, the few who have dared to propose real conservation are rejected and marginalized by the very organizations blowing their horn the loudest.
Meanwhile, since 9/11, over 10,000 more pedestrians have been killed and tens of thousands have been struck and maimed by cars and trucks for the crime of walking or riding a bike. The national passenger rail system is in shambles due to neglect, under funding and outright sabotage by corrupt politicians made wealthy by the auto, defense and petroleum industries. It is embarrassing that the nation that sent a man to the moon decades ago cannot get a passenger train over the grapevine from Bakersfield to Los Angeles and you cannot take a train from Los Angeles to Phoenix because none stop there anymore.
The MISSION of the PEACE TRAIN to DC is to deliver a message of PEACE THROUGH CONSERVATION to the WORLD.
http://PeaceTrainToDC.comThe MISSION of the Drive 55 Conservation Project is to reduce petroleum consumption by 20%-50%.
http://Drive55.org
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