Barack Obama’s reshaping of America is continuing at full speed, this time with the transport system. Yesterday, in an inspiring speech, President Obama outlined his vision for a network of high-speed rail corridors across America.

Introduced by Vice President Biden, well known for being a train-enthusiast and a regular commuter, Obama delivered a stimulating speech already compared by some to Kennedy’s moon speech. He painted a picture of travel made simple (“No racing to an airport and across a terminal, no delays, no sitting on the tarmac, no lost luggage, no taking off your shoes”), clean and fast. He noted that while this may seem futuristic to Americans, high-speed rail have been a reality in many countries from Japan to Spain, citing the prosperity it brought with it. Once more he challenged America to return to its former leading position, and reminded Americans that it was much-admired Lincoln who first expanded the nation’s infrastructure and invested heavily in connecting East and West (by rail and telegraph).

To me he seemed a little frustrated by the naysayers, whether it was when he was describing the wonders of the high-speed rails in foreign countries (over 300mph in Japan, bringing growth to isolated regions in France) while the US is lagging behind, or with those who believe that a time of crisis is not the time to make big changes. It was for their benefit mostly, that he invoked Lincoln’s investment in infrastructure, done during the civil war.

He also promised impatient supporters of change that this is just the beginning – the $8 billion from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (which have to be spent within two years) and the additional one billion a year for the next five years (as requested in the FY 2010 budget) are, as far as both Obama and Biden are concerned, only a down payment.

And for anyone who feels that actions are better than words, no matter how stimulating or revolutionary, the speed with which the Obama administration is moving will be encouraging – this strategic plan was issued before the Congressional deadline (only 58 days after the Recovery Act was passed) and the first round of grant awards are expected to be announced before the end of the summer, which is 3 years ahead of the schedule required by law.

The main points of the President’s vision are -

• Rebuilding existing rail infrastructure
• Launching high-speed rail services in 100-600 mile corridors that connect US communities
• These will be developed through partnership between the public sector and private industry, with a national vision, provided by a strong Federal leadership

A transcript of both Biden’s and Obama’s speeches can be found here; a video of Obama can be found here, and highlights of the strategic plan are in this pdf document.

On Thursday President Obama released an overview of his FY 2010 budget request, with the full details expected to be published in April.

Unsurprisingly, it continues the trends set out in the recovery plan such as tackling climate change head on. Two examples are the extra money ($15 billion a year, to be exact) allocated to developing alternative energy sources and the EPA’s budget which was increased by $3 billion over the previous year, making it the largest budget since the agency was founded 39 years ago. This includes $19 million allocated to a “greenhouse gas emissions inventory and related activities”, which will provide data for implementing a comprehensive climate change bill.

Plenty has already been said about the fact that part of the budget for the next 10 years is built around a cap-and-trade programme (a system that is not even in place yet), noting that a substantial part of the revenues from such a programme will be used to help people cope with rising energy prices which are expected once that cap-and-trade is operating (mainly by way of tax credits).

But one thing that specifically pleases me about this budget (after all, by now we’re starting to get used to a government that takes climate change seriously and the fact that this is “the first budget in U.S. history that is environmentally sustainable” is taken for granted. Well, almost…), is the fact that one of the key priorities mentioned in the Department of Transportation budget is to promote public transport. One manifestation if this prioritisation is a 5 year, $5 billion high-speed rail State grant programme, which comes in addition to the $8 billion allocated to high-speed trains in the stimulus package. As I’ve noted elsewhere, a large investment in public transport is desperately needed to start turning the tide away from private – and energy inefficient – transport.

On the other hand, I was a little disappointed not to find any mentions of funds allocated specifically for adaptation efforts. This may come when the details are published, though it is also likely that this issue is still being overlooked. But more on that in a different post…

Yesterday the House of Representatives approved President Obama’s $819 billion economic recovery plan (the vote was supported by all but 11 Democrats, with 177 Republicans voting against).

As anyone following the recent events in the US will know, this package places a strong emphasis on ‘green’ development – stimulating economic growth while increasing investment in environmental solutions. The large – and revolutionary – increase in the investment in renewable energy (the original proposal included $32 billion to “transform the nation’s energy transmission, distribution, and production systems by allowing for a smarter and better grid and focusing investment in renewable technology” ) was hailed by environmentalists across the board.

Somewhat less attention was paid to the big investment planned (about $20 billion) to increase energy efficiency in public housing and private homes. This of course reduces American dependence on foreign oil, a favorite mantra, even further; but it will also make improving home and businesses energy efficiency accessible to anyone, which will in turn demonstrate how reducing CO2 emissions is not just about climate change and future generations but also makes financial sense in the here and now. Finally, being efficient won’t be just for the environmentalists.

But what about public transport? While $30 billion was allocated for highway construction, with a further $36 billion added in separate spending programmes voted on yesterday by the House as well, a mere $10 billion were allocated for “transit and rail to reduce traffic congestion and gas consumption”.

The United States however is in need of a major overhaul in the way it approaches transportation infrastructure. According to a report by the Brookings Institute the US is “one of the few industrialized countries that fails to link aviation, freight rail, mass transit and passenger rail networks“, and reliance on private cars is so great, that only a substantial shift in attitudes, both by the public and the government, will bring the change needed for a more sustainable transportation infrastructure.

This deep rooted change will apparently have to wait for now, but hopefully only a little while longer.