John,
On Wednesday morning, outside Union Station, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Seth Moulton led a coalition of labor and climate leaders in calling for increased federal funding for high-speed rail in the upcoming infrastructure package.
President Biden's infrastructure proposal, the American Jobs Plan, is the first step toward rebuilding America's crumbling infrastructure to the standards we already see in emerging economies like China and in the rest of the developed world.
It’s a great first step, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. The current plan offers too many subsidies to out-dated cars, roads, and highways, and doesn’t invest enough in next-generation infrastructure like high-speed rail. The plan includes $124 billion more for cars than rail and transit combined—despite the fact that high-speed rail creates more jobs per dollar invested than road and highway projects. Just $80 billion is included in the package for all rail investments!
Like Seth said, “With the American Jobs Plan we have a choice: Fix the last generation’s potholes, or invest in the next generation’s future.” We think the choice is clear!
If you agree with Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Seth Moulton, here are two things you can do right now to help:
- Go to fundhighspeedrail.org and tell your member or Senator to support high-speed rail
- Split a contribution between Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Seth Moulton to help fuel their message about funding high-speed rail
A high-speed rail network will create millions of good, green, union jobs. And it can decarbonize the transportation sector by electrifying millions of daily commutes that currently rely on gas-guzzling cars, trucks, and airplanes. A nationwide high-speed rail network would also reduce traffic congestion on roads and highways—a big benefit to every driver in America.
High-speed rail will also slash toxic air pollution in frontline communities, reduce the need for further highway expansions into those communities, create new affordable house opportunities, and revitalize small towns and rural areas across the country that have been left behind.
Let’s get to work,
—Team Moulton
DONATE
