What I would be interested in is some type of rail connecting small rural farming communities. At one time all of these small towns had a rail trunk; the old rail station in my town is used as a Kiwanis meeting center. Many of these rail lines were removed when the interstates came. My thinking is that these rail systems could be connected to local hubs which would be then tied to the main system. Should be a lot more efficient than trucking and personal transportation, and it might revitalize these small towns for futre centers of locally produced agriculture. Any one have any plans for something like this?

Reddy Kilowatt to the rescue!

Question -- why haven't electrical utilities gotten politically behind Alan's plan? Or have they, and I missed it??

Therein lies the problem; pitting the campaign slogan "Make things not as bad as they would otherwise have been" vs. "You can have it all just the way it was before," guess which one will win.

Unfortunately, truth doesn't get you elected. Doesn't get your project selected either.

He could always go with Jimmy Carter's "Eat Your Broccoli, America!" speech. Though it didn't seem to work too well for Mr. Carter.

But yeah, "Making things not as bad" could include lots of things, in no particular order:

• Ending foreign occupation(s)
• Electrifying transportation
• Deploying rooftop PV solar
• Relocalizing agriculture
etc. ...