Nearly a half a century ago, following the economic slump of the Post-War era, President Eisenhower created the largest infrastructure plan in American history. Using modern technology, the Federal Highway Act of 1956, connected the major cities of the United States. While creating millions of jobs from architects and engineers, to day labors and surveyors, this program also led to the American obsession and dependence with the automobile. We have a present opportunity, as a Nation, to redesign our infrastructure with the technology that exists today, to connect our cities using fast, clean, and efficient high-speed rails. With the passage of the stimulus bill, the federal government has allocated $8 billion to the development of high-speed rails within 11 corridors throughout the country. Working in corporation with state governments and private businesses, this decade long project is apart of the current administration’s commitment to revitalize our society. For the last several years state governments have proposed high-speed rails to connect regional cities. States like Florida, California, and Texas have experienced rapid growth and suburban sprawl. Clogged roadways and interstates beyond capacity have caused residents to lobby for alternative methods of travel. Coupled this with the increase in fuel costs and the rise of environmental consciousness, legislation in several states have passed to begin development of high-speed rails. With the investment of $8 billion by the federal government and an additional $5 billion over the next five years, the proposed rails will become a reality. Using a strategic plan that must be submitted to Congress by mid-April, the Federal Railroad Administration must determine the guidelines of the project, such as: what corridors are the first to be developed, the amount of grants to distribute, and a timeframe of completion. There is also a provision that obligates the federal government to provide high-speed funding as part of its budget by 2012. However, the bulk of the responsibility falls on individual states, such as financing and development contracts. The construction of the rails would be half as expensive than to develop new freeways or runways and can carry large amounts of people as well as light freights. When redesigning its infrastructure, the US should consider its rate of growth. Major cities like San Francisco, Chicago, and Dallas; cities that are plagued with congestion and pollution issues have begun doing so. The new high-speed rails will decrease the amount of congestion on the roads and airports as well as relieve the necessity to further expand them. Travel time will greatly decrease as cities are connected. Traveling at 220 mph between San Francisco and Las Angelas will only be 2.5 hours. As an alternative means to travel, the new trains will be electric powered, saving about 324 lbs of CO2 on a trip from San Francisco to Las Angales. The savings will be even greater with the expansion of alternative energy such as solar, wind, and geothermal as a means to power the United States. As the population of the United States continues to grow, the effects will be felt in all sectors. More energy is then consumed, more resources depleted, more land is then developed, more sprawl occurs. The Obama administration has provided funds to a program that would not be able to exist without it. Not only will the federal government create skilled jobs throughout this country by the increase in productivity, it will lesson our environmental impact and progress the United States’ Environmental Agenda.

With the passage of the recent stimulus bill, $18 billion is allocated in transforming the United States into an energy efficient country. Billions are being spent not only in the investment in green technology, but in modernizing our infrastructure and weatherizing our homes. Most of the funds are being spent on a large governmental level, however there are things individuals can do to make their homes more energy efficient, and lessen their impact on the environment.

Every year an average American household produces 7.4 metric tons of CO2 per year.  There are basic ways to decrease that amount which require little financial investment. By simply placing curtains in front of windows, it traps the heat in the room during winter months and blocks the sun from heating it in the summer. Check your window frames and seal any cracks you may find. While inspecting your widows, inspect your walls and attic for insulation. Insulation in walls is what curtains are for windows. Instead of using your parents pink fiberglass ones from the 1950’s, try recycled paper insulation. As you continue your house inspection look at your appliances and light bulbs. Get rid of the 1980 microwave and dishwasher and get ones from the last 10 years. You will be surprise how inefficient they are compared with their more modern counterparts. If you haven’t already changed you light bulbs do it! We waste about 10%  of energy through inefficiently lighting our buildings. If nothing else, it will at least pay for itself in your first electric bill. Change the head of all your facets to allow less water to flow out. Less consumption of water means less energy used to transport it and less energy to heat it. You should also consider showering with someone. Less energy is consumed, less water is used, and is always an interesting time. Once you have completed the inside of your house, head outside to your yard.

The landscaping around your house also affects the amount of energy your house consumes. One of the easiest things to do is plant a tree or bushes by the house. The vegetation will provide shade for your house and keep it cooler on hot sunny days. Consider starting a small garden in your yard.  On average,  American foods travels an estimated 1,500 miles before being consumed.  Way more than the energy you will use to walk to your garden and cut the broccoli yourself.

Unless you have lived under a rock for the past 6 months, you are aware of the social consciousness desiring for energy change. The allocated funds from the government will take months, even years, before their changes will provide a lasting effect. However, there are a multitude of things individuals can do to have an immediate impact. Although the government is forcing the market in this direction, it is our responsibility to ensure we have enough energy to continue our way of life. Because if we don’t, who will?

Sitting in a Starbucks I sipped my venti Iced green tea as I watched patrons order their laundry list of beverages.  I wonder if our ancestors could ever imagine the luxury of having our level of consumption.  We live our lives, unknowingly unaware of how much we actually consume and how much we throw away.   An American produces 1,584 pounds of waste per year while the world average is 330 pounds per person per year.  As a country, we consume 1/5 of the world’s 500 billion plastic bags that are produced annually.  The United States consumes 350% more cubic feet of wood than the world’s average.  So what happens to the cups of coffee we throw away once their purpose has been served?

Items that are not recycled or taken to an incinerator, are taken to a landfill to decompose.  The time it takes for our waste to decompose depends on the material.  Items like paper and wood, roughly half the waste in landfills, decompose quickly if exposed to oxygen and bacteria; however in a landfill this process may take more than 5 years.  In contrast, aluminum can take up to 500 years to decompose.  But plastic, like the 1,000 bags used per year by American families, is not decomposable. The sun, by a means of photodegrades, breaks the plastic down into molecules.  But the molecules will never decompose.  The problem is so bad, 1,000 miles off the coast of San Francisco there is an area called Garbage Patch.  Filled with 7 million tons of waste and plastic, it is the largest landfill on Earth.  Stretching to the waters of Hawaii, it is double the size of Texas and 300 feet deep. The patch is stuck in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, a slow moving, spiral of currents, created by a high-pressure system of air.  Samples of the water showed 6 parts plastic, one part plankton- the lifeline of the ocean. Every plastic created, even the first ones from the 1930’s, still exist today. How do we as Americans limit our environmental impact and decrease our level of consumption?

One of the methods used by municipalities is recycling.  However only 20% of paper and 7 % of plastic bags are recycled.  There are 8,550 curbside recycling programs, 200 less than there were 5 years ago.  For the quarter of Americans who don’t recycle a single item, their consumption levels continue to rise. 20 countries, in response to growing consumption, have banned or tax the use of plastic bags.  Washington DC is the first city in the United States to implement a plastic bag tax.  Aimed at decreasing waste and saving energy, China saves 34 million barrels of oil a year from its ban on plastic bags.  Ireland saves 400,000 barrels from its taxation of it.   Living in the United States we have created a culture of consumption to the extent where we have consumed more natural resources since 1955, than in all of human history to that year. 

Sitting in Starbucks sipping my drink, I observed the decrease in patrons since this time last year.  Because of our economy we are consuming less than we have in the past.  What we have failed to understand is that by consuming less we can actually generate more; more natural resources, better quality material, and provide a balance to our environmental impact.  

Through the collaborative effort of Brigham Young University and Harvard School of Public Health, researchers found that cleaner air increases life expectancy. In what would seem like an obvious conclusion, they have determined that the particles in pollution such as ash, soot, diesel exhaust, and aerosol chemicals has an adverse side-affect on human health. In the study that compared data from 51 US cities over the course of 20 years, 15% of the increased life expectancy was attributed to the reduction in air pollution, totaling 5 months. With this academic data known what do we now do with this information? Is it an economic concern or societal?

The United States remains the world’s most leading contributor of CO2 emissions. On average a US household emits 59 tons of CO2 per year, while the worlds average is 8 tons per year. That is a staggering differential number. The United States spends 53 percent more on healthcare than any other country, spending $5,267 per capita. However, when spending on the environment, the United States spends $292 per capita. More of our national budget should be allocated toward improving our environment. “We find that we’re getting a substantial return on our investments in improving our air quality. Not only we are getting cleaner air that improves our environment, but it is improving our public health,” said C. Arden Pope III, lead author of the study.

Therefore, the funds that are spent improving our environment through the reduction of emissions, redesigning of our infrastructure, and the preservation of lands, will provide a reduction in pollution. The reduction in pollution will improve the health of the citizens. Healthier citizens need less medical care causing a surplus in the funds allocated to our healthcare system. The surplus funds can then be used to either fund the increase in environmental spending or used as an investment in our healthcare system, by improving the quality of it.

Pope, along with fellow researcher from Harvard, Douglas Dockery, published their research in the New England Journal of Medicine. In the last two decades we have seen many strides in environmental progression, yet we have also witness many setbacks. Many hope that the United States is set to reverse our shortcomings, and lead the environmental crusade as we did 30 years ago. If that is true, our national health will also greatly improve.