50 cent/gallon gas tax (less drastic than what many are proposing).

Drive rail initiatives forward in all major commuter corridors with timeline-specific federal funding.

Invest heavily in much-needed maintenance to and restructuring to the electrical grid. Restructuring to focus on regionalization and localization.

...which ties in to localized power derived in large part from wind farms and hydro. The end product of these sources (electricity) should be subsidized by the gas tax (above).

Carbon tax - not just on gasoline, but also on coal. Gas tax ought to be 50 cents for Iraq, a buck for global warming. The rest will take care of itself, which appropriate investment shifts (less on roads, more on rail).

Drop CAFE while you're at it. It's stupid; it gives me (Prius driver) no incentive to drive less; while a gas tax incents me _and_ the Hummer driver to use less gas.

Rather than subsidize research even more offer prizes for innovative energy technologies.

Pebble bed reactors.

Rail is dead. Not only is it a nineteenth century technology in a twenty first century world it's just too dang expensive. Modern just in time delivery systems will fail using rail. Commuter rail fails because of inflexibility, high cost both to build and run, and the fact people will not use it even if it is built.

Modern development codes for cities and counties are anything but "green". They require excess parking areas (too much asphalt and run off) and they encourage too much driving by not allowing market forces to determine siting locations.

Thinking forward instead of backwards would help a lot. Too many people look to force our society back to "a more simple time". That type of misguided effort will yield us nothing.

1. Kill the subsidy on ethanol.

2. More pebble bed reactors.

God, how I love all these proposed takings and subsidies for the benefit of the proles. Stupid free markets. Apparently Hillary Clinton said she wants to take all of ExxonMobil's profits today. Kind of reminds me of Willie Sutton's response when he was asked why he robbed banks.

If you are really interested in helping out the environment the following steps would help tremendously.

1. End all farm subsidies

2. End mandated biofuel usage

3. End sugar tariffs

These actions would substantially improve environmental conditions worldwide. It would also raise the third world standard of living and revitalize rural economies in the United States.

I have to laugh at the commenter that thinks "rail is dead." Amtrak is by far the fastest and most comfortable way to travel from NYC to DC and back. People don't include all the extra time airports take before you even get on the plane.

Amtrak should be expanded, especially in situations where you have 2 major cities fairly close to each other.

Also, I've been on enough crowded subway trains to know that commuter rail is far from dead. Some San Francisco suburbs bought into that nonsense when BART was being planned and originally opted out. They sure regretted it and joined in later at a higher cost.

Stevem, your comments about rail are retarded. Every single one of the last ten or so light rail starts in this country have been smash successes (at getting people who previously wouldn't get out of their cars to take transit to work).