Readers React: Wasting cap-and-trade money on the bullet train

As one who voted for California’s high-speed train in 2008 but has since lost faith in its current design, route and budget, I feel that a better use of some of those cap-and-trade funds to reduce greenhouse gas emissions would be to finally set up a robust loan or rebate program for low- to middle-income property owners — especially seniors on fixed incomes — for installing solar panels. (“Bullet train funding is bargaining chip in state budget debate,” May 30)

It’s another sunny day, and all that sunlight above my head is going to waste while a giant utility bill awaits payment.

Joanne Hedge

Glendale

If a building contractor submitted an estimate to build a house for me but would not reveal the foundation design, the construction materials or the square footage, I would find his estimate unacceptable and reject it immediately.

Yet the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s $68-billion estimate does not reveal how the train will traverse the Tehachapis (tunnels, bridges, huge cut-and-fills?) and other important details, including speeds at key points in the system. Further, under the governor’s plan to subvert cap-and-trade funds, the program will have unlimited funds to draw on over time until industry stops releasing greenhouse gases.

Estimate rejected.

Gordon Osborne

Woodland Hills