05/25/10 01:03 - ID#51726

Oil Spill & Railfaning

As I look at the oil spill and get more and more pissed off by the day

I just remind myself that people in charge do things that is right for their rich friends and not for the common good. Might makes right and there is nothing that ever seems to get done for the higher purpose, like saving the environment. It makes me wonder how much environmental damage might have been prevented if we never tore up the the streetcars that we had even 60 years ago? This if just F'd up because one could still have lived in East Aurora, Lancaster, Olcott Beach or Youngstown and commuted to work in Buffalo every day.

Then the best part is the spend millions of shitload dollars to put in a joke of a light rail train that went over the same right of way 35 years ago!

Remember the CSX ad stating that they can move 1 ton 423 miles using 1 gallon of diesel? Just imagine these streetcars using electricity from the Hydro Electric station in Lewiston which would be pretty much all green?

vincent writes at 09:27:59 05/26/10 - Comment #56435: Agreed x2

This catastrophe is making me despondent, I'm glad that I was able to enjoy the Gulf 4x this winter and share it with all of you. :-(

libertad writes at 09:18:29 05/26/10 - Comment #56433: Agreed.

heidi writes at 08:48:32 05/26/10 - Comment #56432: (e:libertad) - I think and hope you're right that our way of life will be changed. It has to change - we have to move away from a fossil-fuel-based economy, and away from a consumerist economy. Constant, limitless growth is unrealistic - there are physical and environmental limits to our ability to expand. I'm afraid that income inequality is going to just increase - both between and within countries - as they jockey for control over dwindling fossil fuel supplies. Oh, and water, too. <sigh>

libertad writes at 06:55:49 05/26/10 - Comment #56431: After watching the live feed of the oil well disaster I have realized the latest top kill is never, ever going to work and I think it is now much worse. The oil is coming out with so much more force and pressure than it was before. This is not going to stop for another two months until they finish the relief well. Our way of life will be changed.

libertad writes at 06:11:01 05/26/10 - Comment #56430: I can barely even describe how sad this oil spill has made me. Maybe someday I will try and write about it myself. It is just so overwhelming. This has the potential to be the worst environmental disaster to date on this planet. I hope this next stunt by BP will stop it but I am fearful it might even make it worse.

metalpeter writes at 06:16:14 05/25/10 - Comment #56414: I have seen old pictures where you have cars and street cars on the same street and yes Buffalo was one of the places I don't get why you would get rid of them it makes no sense.

In Terms of BP or anyone who Drills this is even more true when working out in the ocean. Every piece of equipement should have multiple plans filed about what to do if it breaks or missfunctions and even right down to multiple ways of fixing the problem for both continuing to work and to stop oil flow all together. This way anything that goes wrong the files are in a secure off site location as well as on site. Something goes wrong you just look it up and fix the problem. There is no reason For BP trying to do all this stuff and none of it works. There should have been (Maybe there is but that is my next point) a plan where you can stop the leak or stop the oil from comming where it is comming from. Have you noticed everything they are doing is containment and not stopping it.

I don't agree with everything Bill Maher Says. But he wonders if BP doesn't want to do what would stop the oil from leaking out. At First that sounds crazy and makes no sense. But if you think about it does make sense. BP doesn't care how much oil they lose, they want to just do what is cheapest. See when they lose oil, then everyone who wants their oil since their is less of it pays more for it. Oh and guess what that does, yes tarnish the name, but it makes their profits higher. ARGh.........

scott writes at 11:21:17 05/25/10 - Comment #56403: Wanna hear something that'll fan the flames?

When the NFTA's subway was being designed/built in the 70's, they had the option to build using the same trains used in NYC subways.

However, palms got greased and the cars/track were purchased new from Japan. Unfortunately, Japanese trains run on a slightly narrower gauge of track and thus are completely incompatible with standard US light rail.

The result is a rail line with non-standard track and rare foreign train cars that are expensive to maintain and replace. So, we can't expand the current one-line subway without severe expense.

Had we just built to the standard used in other cities, we could buy refurbished/recycled cars from NYC and expand with relatively low cost. So, it's really a double-fucking: The environment in fuel (and trains that end up in the scrapheap) and, of course, our pocketbooks.