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Each Fourth of July, Americans gather with family and friends to celebrate all that makes our Nation exceptional. For generations, American infrastructure has been the envy of the world–from the roads and canals of the Gallatin Plan to the Transcontinental Railroad to the Interstate Highways.
These projects have improved the quality of life for American families with unprecedented freedom of mobility–expanding economic opportunity, connecting communities across the country, and unlocking access to our great cities and natural wonders.
Today, however, this freedom has been curtailed by traffic and gridlock, flight delays and cancellations, and decades-long underinvestment in infrastructure. At the same time, other countries have been making major investments to improve their transit systems.
This Independence Day, we are reminded that we face another opportunity to preserve America’s preeminence into the 21st Century: building a nationwide, electrified network of high-speed rail.
In my home state of California, we take great pride in our ambitious status as the leading edge of high-speed rail here at home. Electrified high-speed trains will be operational in the Central Valley between 2030 and 2033, connecting cities from the southern palms to the northern pines, with the goal to be the world’s first solar-powered high-speed rail system.
Investing in high-speed rail improves our quality of life and delivers meaningful benefits for America’s families.
First, building high-speed rail creates good-paying, union-protected jobs–and drives significant economic growth. As construction progresses in the Central Valley, California High-Speed Rail has already created more than 11,000 green jobs and generated more than $12 billion in economic activity. And we aren’t done yet.
There are long-term benefits, too, that spring from the improved efficiency and productivity of America’s businesses, ensuring our Nation remains competitive worldwide.
Second, high-speed rail is critical for solving the climate crisis. Transportation is a major culprit of planet-harming pollution–and we do not have a moment to lose in the race to stave off the worst climate disasters.
By investing in zero-pollution trains that meet the needs of America’s families, we will have fewer cars on the road, fewer planes in the sky, and less pollution in our air. At the same time, we will lessen our dependence on fossil fuels–and the dictators who determine the high costs of oil.
We know the promise of high-speed rail because 26 other nations have already implemented it with remarkable success.
For nearly six decades, Japan’s electric bullet trains have connected big cities and rural communities–without a single injury or fatality and always running on time. I have traveled on–and been impressed by–high-speed rail in China, a country that has built 26,000 miles of domestic track.
From Germany to France to Italy to Spain, most of Europe is now connected by high-speed trains. Meanwhile, Morocco has built the first high-speed rail line on the African continent, connecting Casablanca and Tangiers.
Here at home, in addition to construction underway in California, planning has begun for world-class high-speed rail around America: connecting Seattle to Portland, Dallas to Houston, and Charlotte to Atlanta. By the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, a bullet train will connect Las Vegas to Southern California. It is critical that we accelerate–and expand–high-speed rail projects so that every community can benefit from the improved quality of life brought about by the safe, efficient, and clean transportation system of the future.
Under President Biden’s leadership, Congress enacted our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: a strong step to reimagine transit and transportation across our Nation. We must commit to marshaling resources from this law behind current and future high-speed rail projects–and sustain this commitment with future legislation.
We know that high-speed rail requires significant investment. But as we have seen, countries that have fully committed to this technology have reaped transformational benefits: quicker, easier, and safer travel, cleaner air, economic growth, and a brighter future.
On this Fourth of July, let us declare our independence from freeway gridlock, snarled airports, and choking pollution with an American high-speed rail success story.
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi has represented San Francisco in Congress for more than 36 years and served as the 52nd Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.
