San Diego solar boom

Solar energy is soaring in Southern California -- surging past wind and hydro as the Golden State's top renewable energy source. On a recent visit to San Diego I was amazed at all the new rooftop solar. It seemed like every other home had solar panels on the roof, a noticeable difference from the last time I went out West a few years ago. It makes sense that San Diego would be the epicenter of America's solar boom given how much sunshine the region is blessed with all year round.

American High-Speed Rail Moving Forward

Despite shortsighted right-wing Republican opposition, high-speed rail (HSR) is moving forward in the United States of America. Soon we won't have to fly across the Atlantic or Pacific to experience world-class passenger train service. President Obama and Vice President Biden get much of the credit for revitalizing passenger rail travel by demanding a federal allocation of $8 billion for high-speed projects as part of the 2009 economic stimulus package.

While conservative Republican governors like Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Rick Scott of Florida have denied their residents high-speed rail by rejecting federal funding, and right-wing House Republicans like Rep. Jeff Denham (R-CA) passes a meaningless anti-California HSR amendment to the Fiscal Year 2013 Transportation, Housing & Urban Development (THUD) bill, progressive states like California are pushing ahead into the 21st Century with ambitious HSR projects. The latest good news for HSR advocates comes from The Golden State where last Friday in Sacramento, lawmakers in the Senate approved SB 1029 -- $4.5 billion in construction financing through the sale of bonds, including $2.6 billion for the initial segment in the Central Valley for the bullet train line between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The legislative victory means that California will now qualify for another $3.2 billion in federal funding.

Green Traveler: California

Nissan Leaf electric vehicle charging up in Santa Monica, California.

December 24, 2011-January 2, 2012 -- California is on the cutting edge of America's green revolution, so whenever I visit the Golden State there is always something new to write about on Green Forward.

San Francisco Airport

The last trip to the Left Coast took me first from Washington Dulles International Airport on Virgin America (the best domestic airline in my humble opinion) to San Francisco International Airport's spectacular new Terminal 2, where I was greeted by a Google representative at something called a Chrome Zone pop-up shop. He explained to me that as a promotion, Google was renting out their new Chromebook laptop to Virgin America customers. The Chromebook could either be used while waiting in the terminal for a connecting flight or on a flight to another airport with a similar pop-up shop where it could be returned.

Photos and Videos: Europe High-Speed Trains

Imagine one day traveling on a high-speed train from Washington to New York in 96 minutes or Los Angeles to San Francisco in 2 hours 38 minutes. As the super sleek bullet-nosed marvel of modern engineering climbs to a top of speed of 220 mph (354 kph) on a dedicated high-speed track, the sensation you feel is of flying on an airplane at 30,000 feet. You look out the window as entire towns pass by in a blink of an eye. As you speed through The Garden State you briefly notice on your left a backlog of planes waiting to take off from Newark International Airport and on your right an epic traffic jam on the New Jersey Turnpike. But before you know it the train is tunneling underneath the Hudson River and gliding into a spacious new railway station as you realize that you left Washington and arrived in New York in the time it would have taken you to drive to the airport and pass through security or reach as far as Baltimore in rush hour gridlock.

High-speed rail in California, the Northeast Corridor and other regions could become reality soon as pundits and politicians debate the merits of investing in 21st century train travel while China and other countries rapidly build extensive high-speed rail networks. With high-speed rail such a hot topic here in America, I wanted to visit a part of the world where fast trains have been a part of the fabric of life for a long time. Riding the rails was the main reason I took a trip to Europe this past summer. My Eurorail pass opened my eyes to a way of life where citizens enjoy timely and efficient city-to-city rail service that is competitive with air and automobile travel.  Here are some photos of the high-speed trains I took followed by video of riding the rails through the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, Czech Republic, France and Spain.

EUROSTAR

DEUTSCHE BAHN

THALYS

TGV

RENFE

Here are more photos of high-speed rail in Europe.

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