So apparently, according to the CBC News article: Alberta hyperloop there are professionals promoting the use of the wonderful Hyperloop technology, and hoping to have it bringing people from Calgary to Edmonton by 2030. This sounds great, every science fiction show that has done a Hyperloop type train has NEVER, EVER had a bad thing happen. Heck, even The Simpsons had a run in with a bullet train (hyperloop train basically).
I for one am completely on board with this, we as a people spend too much time sitting in cars, trucks, planes, etc, when we could zoom across the country very quickly with the right technology, and a Hyperloop train system is exactly what we need. Not just for Alberta, but for all of Canada.
These trains are crazy fast, and could take people minutes to travel what used to take people hours. We owe it to our environment to utilize efforts such as these to lesson the impact of fossil fuels on our environment. Sure it won’t make everything better over night, but every little bit helps. We will never break our dependance on fossil fuel unless steps like this are taken on a large scale, as it would change the way people think, and act.
Beyond the speed of travel, and ease for commuters, this type of train system could easily replace the ‘go train’ in Toronto Ontario, and other train systems throughout the whole of Canada. And it should, hell, even building a north/south train to the territories and remote communities would be a splendid idea. Our government would be crazy to not look at the potential of bringing the train north to say, Nunavut, where the people depend on ice trucks to get them food and supplies for a majority of the year. Imagine a train bringing it up, it would bring work, people, supplies, it would be cheaper for those living there, safer for the environment.
I see potential when I see articles that talk about these advancements. I see a great chance for our environment to become an actual debatable piece and not just a slice of terrible actions by the government. They see it as renewable resources, when in-fact, most of our environmental resources are depleting at an exponential rate. Action needs to happen and this is the type of thing that would help break dependance on those resources.
But to talk about the environment is somewhat of a sore subject for some people. As they do not believe in climate change, or global warming. Some people cannot see past the politics and look at the actual science. So that is why I am so focused on advancements like this Hyperloop train, it could sway a lot with regards to people seeing an actual effect/change.
Recently, the United Nations declared that the entire planet will raise by 3.2 degrees celcius by 2100. And that number may not feel like much of a number, but that is where you would be so wrong. Our planet is heating up, our oceans are polluted, our forests are having more fires per year than they historically have had. Action is required. We are approximately 8 billion people on this planet, and our politics act as if its okay to just destroy it.
Corporations are trying to avoid giving up on their old practices as it means inventing new ones, which costs money instead of makes money. At least initially. The research and development of technology to change the way we do our daily business rarely ever gets focused on the environmental aspect. And that is the type of change the Hyperloop brings, an actual, factual, improvement to our environment. Sure its small scale as it will be Calgary to Edmonton, but if other places follow suit with it, and we enact cross country, heck, even cross border, we will effect environmental change on a global scale. We may just save this world yet.
And I for one, would love to save this planet… For my children.
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