Let’s say you want to build a rail line and you are convinced, despite all the evidence in my previous posts, that operating it will use less energy per passenger mile than buses or cars. Before you start construction, first ask: How much energy will it take to build the rail line?
Sound Transit, which is building one of the most expensive light-rail lines in the country and is asking voters for money to build another 50 miles that will cost even more, estimates that one of these lines will save 14,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year. But, based on the environmental impact statement for the line, a group called the Coalition for Effective Transit estimates that constructing the line will use enough energy to emit 640,000 tons of CO2. That’s about 45 years’ worth of savings.
