[BeaverFever]

llama66 llama66:

The New Deal was (as I understand) FDR basically (and not literally) throwing shit against a wall and seeing what stuck.

Well he must have had a helluva good throwing arm cuz it mostly stuck.

[Douwe]

Excuse me, but these seem like quite laudable goals.

Converting all of U.S. power demand to renewable energy.
Investing heavily in programs for clean-energy jobs and technologies.
Supporting sustainable farming practices to eliminate pollution "as much as is
technologically feasible."
Upgrading or replacing every building for efficiency.
Overhauling transportation with high-speed rail to "a scale where air travel stops
becoming necessary."
And creating a national "smart" grid that would increase energy efficiency.

In face if they were implemented they would go a long way into solving a number of problems facing the US and put pressure on rival nations such as China which is currently moving rapidly in the same direction.

[N_Fiddledog]

Nice to hear you like it but can you tell us how you'd do it?

Doesn't seem possible within the bounds of current reality. Dreamers got a dream I guess.

Too bad they can't do it with their own money.

[llama66]

How would rail travel overtake and make obsolete Air Travel. It is impossible to build rail over the Atlantic Ocean. Even if you routed the rail through Newfoundland to Greenland and then to Iceland connecting with the European continental raillines in Scotland, the distance between Greenland/Iceland/Scotland is many hundreds of miles and water is kilometers deep. With our current grasp of engineering this is an impossible task.

Pacific is easy enough.... just put a bridge over one of the roughest stretches of water on earth. Cross at the Bearing Straits.

We'd need to learn how to build cofferdams that can be 10 kms high, pour and set concrete in pillars 10 kms high, lay track in a super humid environment, learn how to keep ice from building up, etc, etc....

That's for going over the water, going under the water... Jesus, that's that another set of feats all-together.

It's not feasible.

[DrCaleb]

llama66 llama66:

How would rail travel overtake and make obsolete Air Travel.

Short, high speed runs, like in Japan. You can get from North to South in that country on a train much faster than driving.

[llama66]

Didn't she say all air travel?

[peck420]

llama66 llama66:

How would rail travel overtake and make obsolete Air Travel. It is impossible to build rail over the Atlantic Ocean. Even if you routed the rail through Newfoundland to Greenland and then to Iceland connecting with the European continental raillines in Scotland, the distance between Greenland/Iceland/Scotland is many hundreds of miles and water is kilometers deep. With our current grasp of engineering this is an impossible task.

High speed rail, in the US, is largely dominated by HyperLoop, for media and information coverage.

She would be envisioning a sealed system, with no major engineering limitations for placing underwater, if one had the money to do so.

Edit to add:

If you get bored, take a little visit to Virgin's HyperLoop page.
https://hyperloop-one.com/

Being UK/EU centric, the questions of crossing water came up much sooner in the discussion.

[DrCaleb]

llama66 llama66:

Didn't she say all air travel?

Since when do I listen to what politicians say?

There's what they say, and what is possible.

[llama66]

I see. Cost will be prohibitive.

[DrCaleb]

It all depends on motivation. An interstate system in the US was cost prohibitive, but it spurred economic growth. A rail system was, the century before that, and it started trade between Europe and China, with goods flowing over the rails across North America.

Look what China is doing now, millions of KM of highways, rail lines and high speed passenger rail.

[llama66]

It's all built out of lead-based paint and child labour.

[BartSimpson]

llama66 llama66:

It's all built out of lead-based paint and child labour.

All Hail The Glories of the People's Republic!!!

[llama66]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

llama66 llama66:

It's all built out of lead-based paint and child labour.

All Hail The Glories of the People's Republic!!!

Not yet. Not until I am Supreme Chancellor.

[fifeboy]

peck420 peck420:

Being UK/EU centric, the questions of crossing water came up much sooner in the discussion.

Now they will have to build a Custom House on the Dogger Banks

[peck420]

llama66 llama66:

It's all built out of lead-based paint and child labour.

I wonder how that would deal with snow and ice?