Critics Unite Against Brown's Bullet Train Funding
SACRAMENTO (AP) — Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to redirect $250 million from California's landmark effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and spend it instead on high-speed rail has renewed debate about the future of the contentious project.
The governor says the $68 billion bullet train is the perfect way to unite a fractured state and help California "pull together to form a greater community."
His proposal appears to be uniting many lawmakers and interest groups, but not the way he intended.
Some Democrats who have supported high-speed rail are joining Republicans in rejecting Brown's funding idea, and environmental groups are lukewarm at best.
They say the money should be used to improve California's air quality today and not go to a project that is decades away from completion, if it is ever built.
(© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)