Updates in the Northeast Ohio-Western Pennsylvania Region

Comment

Comment by J Jay Pirko on December 19, 2010 at 11:39am

Cleveland-Youngstown-Pittsburgh (CYP) Railroad Service & Great Lakes Regional Port Authority:

 

 

The $400 million for the "3-C" (Cleveland-Columbus-Cincinnati) passenger rail project is already Ohio's loss, and the West Coast's gain. Ohio's incoming state government is not ready, willing, or able to make "3-C" a reality.

 

Columbus, and Southwest Ohio, apparently do not see the value of passenger rail service and will not support it, even if it is given to them. The voters in these counties overwhelmingly supported the politicians who vehemently oppose the "3-C" project. Elections have consequences, and the "Voters' Will" must be recognized and respected, even if we may disagree.

 

For passenger rail advocacy to survive and grow, we need a success story; and "CYP" (Cleveland-Youngstown-Pittsburgh) is in a better position to succeed than "3-C." (Does "3-C" have the level and multi-facetted dimensions of support for that we have built for "CYP?")

 

"CYP" has built an interstate coalition, with a focus on business economic development. "CYP" will fill the Ohio "gap in the map," linking the majority of the USA population located in the combined regions of the Midwest and East Coast, through the existing Pittsburgh connection.

 

The "C" in "CYP" may actually be Chicago. In the research discussed at the recent Regional Network meeting in Youngstown, the demand for the Cleveland-to-Pittsburgh route is surpassed by the Chicago-to-Pittsburgh route, traveling through Cleveland and Youngstown.

 

CYP is in a better position to become the "proving ground" for the viability of passenger rail service in Ohio. Therefore, I recommend prioritizing all efforts and resources toward "CYP," and putting "3-C" on the "back burner."

 

"CYP" will require an interstate legal entity to authorize this project, receive funding, and make it a reality. At the "All Aboard Ohio!" meetings at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber of Commerce, I have proposed forming a Penn-Ohio Port Authority, patterned after the New York-New Jersey Port Authority.

 

The powers of a Port Authority go beyond transportation infrastructure, with the ability to invest in economic development with buildings, industrial financing, and technology development. A pro-active Port Authority can transform the "Rustbelt" into a productive industrial "Tech-Belt."

 

This Interstate Port Authority could be formed by a coalition of counties in western PA (from Erie to the counties east of the greater Pittsburgh metropolis) and northern Ohio (extending to Toledo and the Indiana border.)

 

It could be expanded across northern Indiana into the Gary-Chicago-Milwaukee metropolis, and north into Michigan, forming a "Great Lakes Regional Port Authority," along with Buffalo and western New York. These old industrial "Rustbelt" communities share more with each other economically and culturally than they share with their own State Capitals. The common complaint that I have heard from people in these communities is that they are neglected and exploited "orphans/stepchildren" of their own State Governments.

 

It may be necessary for this Interstate Port Authority to be chartered by the Federal Government, if it is not authorized, or contradicted, by the laws of each of each State. Forging strategic alliances with communities and legislators from this entire multi-state region may be the only way to gain the "political capital" needed for Federal approval.

 

The Federal and State governments are financially broken, and can be expected to repeat the 1980's practice of withdrawing from capital investment in the USA. We cannot depend upon them; we have to do this ourselves, with our own resources.

 

Ohio is the key to this entire effort, the chasm between the Midwest and East Coast. "All Aboard Ohio!" is in a position to make this a reality, and prove to Ohio what the rest of the World seems to already know, that passenger rail service is a viable, energy-efficient transportation mode for the 21st Century.

 

 

James Jay (Jim) Pirko

Pickens Plan District Leader (OH-17)

"Railroads and the Pickens Plan" Group Leader

Comment by J Jay Pirko on November 14, 2010 at 9:44pm

Recruiting John Boehner to support HR 1835 and natural gas based motor vehicle fuel will be a challenge. His 8th District in southwest Ohio is too far from the Marcellus and Utica shale gas region to directly benefit his home District constituents. We gained the support from the entire East Ohio-West Pennsylvania border Congressional Delegation because they saw the job creating economic development benefits for their local communities. We lost three of these Democrat Members of Congress, and have to start all over again to educate their Republican replacements and gain their support for USA-produced fuel.

With the power shift in the House of Representatives, and the decades-overdue concern about the National Debt (deficits DO matter) we should not expect any governmental financial support for energy infrastructure investment. Four decades without a sustainable energy plan has left our nation dangerously in debt with a wrecked economy. The growth of the National Debt coincided with global oil price increases causing repeated inflationary recessions, regardless of who controlled the White House or Congress. The late 1990's budget surplus and reduction in National Debt directly followed the temporary drop in global oil prices. That was the "decade of wasted opportunity" when we had the wealth to invest in building our own energy resources.

We cannot depend upon our broke governments in Washington and Statehouses, or the clueless craven Wall Street bunglers, to end our dependence on foreign oil. The best resources we have are innovative entrepreneurs and leaders in our local communities, building a decentralized new energy economy. Locally generated tax-exempt municipal bonds may be our best source of large-scale investment capital, that must produce a reliable return on investment. The Pickens Plan network is essential to sharing info on technology that works and can be replicated.