Governor Brown's Half-Fast Bullet Train.

The California coastline rivals the intoxicating Amalfi Drive. If there were a train that took locals and tourists along our Pacific coastline, most people would ride it happily.

When Governor Jerry Brown first talked about a bullet train, we listened. When we were told that it would cost at least $69 billion and would run through our central valley, we were turned off by the idea. The central valley grows about 75 to 80 percent of all produce for the entire country and nearly 40 percent of the produce for the world. California’s budget deficit is 16.7 billion. Four municipalities: Stocton, Vallejo, Mammoth Lakes and San Bernardino are bankrupt and cutting their services. Most Californians think that putting a bullet train through the central valley will further pollute the air and water, disrupt the farming community and put several endangered species at risk.

If the bullet train were to depart from Los Angeles, the train would need to travel at local speeds for quite a while. The same would be true of the approach to San Francisco. The so-called bullet train would actually take between four and a half to five hours – Los Angeles to San Francisco. If you are a business person you would most likely fly from Burbank (hassle-free airport) to Oakland or San Francisco in about one hour. For locals and tourists who prefer to drive themselves between the cities, it would take six hours. They would be free to stop at scenic places like Big Sur to take pictures and have an alfresco lunch in Nepenthe,

Governor Brown’s half-fast train is not giving riders the scenic view of our magnificent coastline. It is not saving them time. It is disrupting the environment. It is a menace to our farms. We are broke and this would mean spending lots of taxpayer money we don’t have on something we don’t need. The true emergency is water! Mr. Governor, we desperately need water. Why not spend the bullet train money on desalinization plants to turn salt water to fresh water for human consumption and farming? Without water we will become a desert dust bowl. This is an urgent plea. First things first.