Tag: lines

Money for Railway Upgrades

  • 8 billion dollars was announced for rail projects. (Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress)

The Obama Administration’s
release of money for higher
speed rail ended up being less
than most states wanted. Lester
Graham reports on what this
will mean for passenger train
service:

Transcript

The Obama Administration’s
release of money for higher
speed rail ended up being less
than most states wanted. Lester
Graham reports on what this
will mean for passenger train
service:

Eight billion dollars apparently doesn’t go that far in rail projects. The pundits have noted California’s Sacramento to San Diego corridor got 2.3 billion and Florida’s Tampa to Orlando route got 1.25 billion, making those states the big winners.

But if you forget state boundaries and look at rail networks, the Midwest’s Chicago Hub network pulled in a whopping 2.6 billion to improve the rails.

Amtrak doesn’t get any of this money. It just runs the trains. It doesn’t own many of the tracks. But spokesman Steve Kulm says better tracks mean Amtrak trains can go faster.

“Train speeds are going to increase from say 79 to 90 or from 90 to 110. But wit this funding that was announced, there was the Florida project and the California project. If those projects do happen and get moving, those projects will be at the 150 or higher levels.”

That’s how fast the train from Washington to New York goes and it’s getting more passengers than the airlines.

For The Environment Report, I’m Lester Graham.

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The Status of the Smart Grid

  • A smart grid diagram from the US Department of Energy (Photo courtesy of the US Department of Energy)

Your power bill likely will change
in the next few years. Lester Graham
reports there’s a good chance you’ll
be thinking about how much electricity
you use and when you’ll use it:

Transcript

Your power bill likely will change
in the next few years. Lester Graham
reports there’s a good chance you’ll
be thinking about how much electricity
you use and when you’ll use it:

The Smart Grid will mean changes. Electric companies we’ll be able to monitor power use better and deliver electricity more efficiently. That should help avoid brown outs and black outs.

But it’ll also be tell you in real time how much power you’re using.

Brian Seal is with the non-profit Electric Power Research Institute. He says, eventually, you’ll be charged different rates at different times of the day.

“Consumers would be aware of that so that they can program their appliances and other equipment to consume energy when the price is low rather than when it’s high.”

But you’ll need Smart Appliances to work with a Smart Grid. GE is the first to announce a product line – right as the government released $3.4 billion in grants to power companies for the Smart Grid.

For The Environment Report, I’m Lester Graham.

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BPA Making Little Girls Aggressive?

  • The researcher plans to follow the children to see if the aggressive behavior is lasting. (Photo courtesy of the National Cancer Institute)

A study has found links between a chemical used in some plastics and aggressive behavior in girls. Lester Graham reports on the latest research on BPA:

Transcript

A study has found links between a chemical used in some plastics and aggressive behavior in girls. Lester Graham reports on the latest research on BPA:

BPA, Bisphenol-A, is used in a lot of plastic products including plastic dental fillings, carbon-less paper receipts and most canned food linings.

Researchers tested 249 pregnant women for their exposure to BPA and then followed-up after they gave birth.

Joe Braun is one of the researchers at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Braun says the mothers were given a lengthy questionnaire on the children’s behavior when they turned two.

“And what we found is that the exposure to BPA, or bisphenol-A, in pregnancy was associated with behaviors like aggression or hyperactivity. And this association was strongest in girls and we really didn’t even observe an association in boys.”

The study was published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Braun says they’ll continue to follow the children to see if the aggressive behavior is lasting.

For The Environment Report, I’m Lester Graham.

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Ice Storm Reveals Dated Power Grid

  • Ice storms in the Midwest revealed weaknesses in a dated electric power grid. (Photo courtesy of US Department of Health and Human Services)

Hundreds of thousands of people in the lower Midwest are still without electricity and heat because of an ice storm. Lester Graham reports the storm shows that the electric power grid is fragile:

Transcript

Hundreds of thousands of people in the lower Midwest are still without electricity and heat because of an ice storm. Lester Graham reports the storm shows that the electric power grid is fragile:

People who tried to stay at home are running out of supplies and now heading for shelters. Rachel Harper and her three children are staying in a shelter in a church basement staffed by Red Cross volunteers from around Bowling Green, Kentucky.

“We’re doing okay. They’ve been watching movies, playing games. Just trying to be together as a family.”

Others are trying to stick it out at home. Mike Jarvis was stocking up at a Wal-Mart.

“I’ve got a wood heater and we’re cooking on the grill, so we’re doing okay.”

In the hardest hit areas, power crews say it will be two more weeks before they find all the downed lines.

The stimulus package includes money for automatic meter readers that could help find downed power lines faster.

Patrick Levine is with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. He says that technology could help.

“There is probably an opportunity to more quickly identify which consumers are without power.”

The ice storm revealed just one of the weaknesses in the grid that’ll have to be upgraded if we’re going to start using electricity to power our cars.

For The Environment Report, I’m Lester Graham.

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