By Mark Hennessey
High Speed Rail is an important part of
Upstate New York and Buffalo’s future – a fact many made clear in a December letter
to President Obama. As shares of
the Federal Stimulus Package become available, it is important that New York get
out front on this issue – and the stakes could not be greater. As people working to advance upstate’s
interests – we have all seen the times when Upstate has gotten left behind. In
a lot of these cases our interests are forgotten because we did not do our
homework and we did not reach consensus on what needs to be done. The time to study and debate this issue
is over. New York needs High Speed
Rail, not just clearing up bottlenecks, and we need it now.
High Speed Rail will swiftly transport
passengers at more than 100 Miles per hour, traveling from New York City to
Niagara Falls – and all points in between. It has the potential to renew the entire Upstate region and
radically change our consumption of foreign oil, dramatically improve our
efforts to green our economy, while also revolutionizing commerce and economic
development in Upstate New York.
For those who say we can’t afford it, I submit the following: California has a $42 Billion deficit, and yet they have found a way to get their High Speed Rail Program underway. In days not so long ago, people laughed
at the idea of an Erie Canal, but the Canal created Upstate’s great cities. I submit that this is the same thing, and the only difference between California and us is that they have summoned
the imagination, vision and political courage necessary to make the hard
decisions that such an investment requires. We must do the same.
Practical matters being what they are – we all
know that when it comes to the federal dollars promised to High Speed Rail in
the stimulus package, time is of the essence. We need support in the Assembly, Senate and from the
Governor to make it happen – and if we pass on this chance, if we do not take
this opportunity, our children will be the ones left asking the question of why
we did not act. For their future,
we must act now.
I
encourage you to join with us. We
have started a Facebook group called New Yorkers for High Speed Rail and we
need you to join the more than 1,925 people all across New York who are already
a part of it. We are about to
launch a website called nyshsr.org, and it will continue the process of moving
forward this important work. We have never been closer than now – and this time,
we can all agree and move New York forward. This time upstate can chalk up a win – but we must think big
and act fast.
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