September, 17 2010, 04:24pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
John Krieger, Federal Transportation Policy Analyst
U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S PIRG)
JKrieger@pirg.org
(202) 546-9707 x.333
Tweeting @TransitPIRG
High-Speed Rail Breaks Ground in Illinois
ALTON, Ill.
Today, Illinois Public
Interest Research Group (Illinois PIRG) state director Brian
Imus joined Governor Pat Quinn, and other state and national officials,
including Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Administrator Joseph C. Szabo,
at an event marking the first high-speed rail project to begin significant
construction under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Improvements on
the route from Chicago to St. Louis will allow passenger-rail service to
operate at speeds of up to 110 mph, significantly reducing travel times between
the cities.
Excerpt from the statement
of Illinois PIRG state director Brian
Imus, delivered at the event:
"In building a 21st century economy, Illinois
is hampered by an outdated transportation system. We've got congested
airports and crammed highways that hinder travel around the Midwest, and our
transportation system is overly reliant on oil, which leaves us vulnerable to
unpredictable gas prices and pollution.
High-speed rail is a part of
the solution. It will boost our economy and create jobs. It will modernize our
transportation system, while helping to solve our nation's oil
dependency, worsening congestion and pollution. High-speed rail will get us
moving in the right direction."
U.S. PIRG, the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs), stands up to powerful special interests on behalf of the American public, working to win concrete results for our health and our well-being. With a strong network of researchers, advocates, organizers and students in state capitols across the country, we take on the special interests on issues, such as product safety,political corruption, prescription drugs and voting rights,where these interests stand in the way of reform and progress.
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World Bank, IMF Must Prioritize Wealth Tax and Canceling Debt to Tackle Global Inequality
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With world leaders convening in Washington, D.C. this week for the annual Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, global anti-poverty campaigners said Monday that delegates from the world's largest economies must prioritize taxing the superrich and taking other steps to alleviate rampant inequality in the Global South.
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Kate Donald, head of Oxfam International's Washington, D.C. office, noted that the news comes less than a year after more than 200 worldwide economists successfully pressured the World Bank to set a new goal of reducing the number of countries with high inequality rates.
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"Ordinary people struggle more and more every day to make up for cuts to the public funding of healthcare, education, and transportation," she said. "This high stakes hypocrisy has to end."
At Inter Press Service, Jaime Atienza, equitable financing director at the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, pointed to the example of Zambia, one of 37 countries identified by Oxfam as facing rising levels of inequality.
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"This lawsuit is a critical step towards justice for these three men who will finally have their day in court."
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