Jumpstart high-speed rail projects as a down payment towards reducing carbon emissions under the Paris climate accord.

Airplanes as a form of transportation are an awful carbon polluter. Huge chunks of the U.S. population on the East and West coasts, the Midwest, and Texas are in close proximity and could be linked through high-speed rail and allow normal economic activity through much lower emissions. Congress got started on high-speed rail projects through public-private partnerships in the 2009 stimulus package. Our commitments under the Paris Climate Accord behoove us to pursue these projects with much more urgency, starting now.