Bill Nye 'The Science Guy' Blasts US For Resisting High-Speed Rail (VIDEO)

Bill Nye, once known as "The Science Guy" thanks to his incredibly successful TV series of the same name, thinks the U.S. "should be embarrassed" at its lack of a high-speed rail system.

During an interview with the Orlando Sentinel, Nye claimed hyperbolically that "every other country in the world" had high-speed rail, before explaining his belief that it was a development the United States had failed to replicate due to the "political" problems surrounding the issue.

"If I may, you should be embarrassed," Nye said. "We gotta get it together."

Nye's comments, made at the Epcot Center in Florida, may have been catalyzed by a recent decision by Florida Governor Rick Scott (R) to reject $2.4 billion in federal funding that would have gone to construct a high-speed rail line between Tampa and Orlando. The White House has since said they plan to send that money elsewhere.

The Obama administration has announced a $53 billion, six-year initiative to begin upgrading the nation's existing railways and broaden the reach of newer high-speed lines.

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Comments

[Pediego]

04:22 PM on 04/11/2011

If U build it people will use it just like the freeway system which now seems inadequate in places. We should have done this instead of getting to the moon which has not benefited anyone at all except our sense of pride or arrogance.

[ardentapathy]

11:13 PM on 03/12/2011

In Nye We Trust!

[Afi Keita James]

07:17 PM on 03/02/2011

stop supporting candidates who are members of the council on foreign relations including this nobama who is a CFR Member, wake up.

[Afi Keita James]

07:23 PM on 03/02/2011

And Yes we need high speed rail, but get the US Government out of the way.

[JHCorcoran]

07:43 PM on 03/12/2011

The US Government has been out of the way and there is little progress.

[Renifer]

06:44 AM on 02/28/2011

The headline is misleading. Nye is not "slamming the US", he's slamming the GOP, and rightly so. They want to bring America back to the dark times of the 1890s, when rail was slow, people were starving, and the KKK was in full swing.

[BluePhantom2]

09:05 PM on 02/27/2011

I'm all for high speed rail and always liked Bill but the private sector has to do it or it will just turn into faster more expensive AMTRAK. Want no part of it. If the public wants it private industry will do it, if the Gov. wants it it will turn into another boondoggle.

[ArjenBoatsma]

11:08 PM on 02/27/2011

Some projects are simply beyond the grasp of the private industry. Creating a concept for an interstate high speed rail system, and building it, is typically something that can only be accomplished with aggressive leadership from the federal government. Look at every other country that has a functioning (and profitable) high speed rail system.

Look at Europe, where especially for the smaller countries, several nations had to work together very closely to implement this.

[BluePhantom2]

04:22 PM on 02/28/2011

But we don't have aggressive leadership unless I've missed something. And this isn't Europe our cities are farther apart and few commute between them. Not saying high speed rail isn't cool just not practicle in the US aside from maybe the eastern seaboard. CA wants it but is the worst place to put it because of the distances.

[quillsinister]

01:41 AM on 02/27/2011

THE SCIENCE GUY HAS SPOKEN!

(And I agree with him.)

:-)

[Ajita Kamal]

12:18 AM on 02/27/2011

Trains are un-American toys for socialists.

[quillsinister]

01:41 AM on 02/27/2011

Nothing is more American than a train.

[Ajita Kamal]

02:25 AM on 02/27/2011

Go back to France.. you know I'm kidding, right?

[sus2222]

12:01 PM on 02/26/2011

Like many modern IDEAS like Single Payer Health Insurance, High Speed Trains will continue to be defeated by GREEDY self serving CORPORATIONS and the toothless wonders who completed the 10th grade and ( for some odd reason ) support them.

[Hypnos Rises]

04:54 AM on 02/26/2011

I met Bill Nye once, and we discussed high speed rail systems. I stated my skepticism and he totally freaked out. He screamed at me and told me I knew nothing I was talking about. People were looking and I was so embarrassed I began to quickly walk away. After about 30 seconds I heard a noise and he punched me in back of the head. A very violent man.

[OzoneTom]

05:36 PM on 04/11/2011

.. and then you woke up and snorted another line of Koch.

[Hypnos Rises]

04:47 AM on 02/26/2011

I

[capitaldysfunction]

04:35 AM on 02/26/2011

As with so many issues of importance, the righties have their hidden concerns about them. In the case of high speed rail, or any public transportation system, their secret agenda is in their heads: big city liberal types of all color persuasions are seen as preferring this form of transit as opposed to the white, upright conservitive car driving citizenry whose gas guzzlers somehow state their separation and class centered superiority, sort of like the church lady who feels her casserole is clearly superior to the other lady's contributions at the church social.

Logic, reason, or objective reality has nothing to do with a conservitive's political formulations.

[conservicide]

02:26 AM on 02/26/2011

Rick Scott likes to sleep with horse heads.

[AnthropologistAmongApes]

03:47 AM on 02/26/2011

LoL

[sloreader]

01:26 AM on 02/26/2011

You got that right Bill Nye, we're dumber than a load of proverbial lumber when it comes to modernizing transportation.

[JCampbell]

06:41 PM on 02/25/2011

Who's been to Europe and traveled by train? There is a difference and why the proposed rail line is illogical.

[Douglas Campbell]

08:22 PM on 02/25/2011

Ive been to Europe as well as Asia many times. The proposed rail makes perfect sense, especially in the North East, Boston to DC where rail travel is far more convenient than air or car travel.

[JCampbell]

08:28 PM on 02/25/2011

You've never been to Europe with that comparison. Follow someone else, your getting a little spooky.

[WarriorLemming]

09:38 PM on 02/25/2011

You'll win a lot of arguments with that defense, Campbell, saying it's "illogical" says absolutely n-o-t--h-i-n-g. This nation needs to find ways to conserve gas and one of the ways is investing in a public transportation system. Other ways is to stop making gas guzzling cars and to reduce the speed limit back to 55 mph which was implemented during the Carter Presidency. When Reagan, the "John Wayne cowboy" got into office any ideas for conservation of gas flew out the window as did the 55 mph speed limit. So much for foresight, heh?

[Onertwo19]

06:21 PM on 02/25/2011

We need high speed rail in 2 major areas: Los Angeles to Las Vegas and Baltimore to Washington DC. Let's try those 2 areas first and see how it works. I'm guessing people will love it.

[davidjs1]

09:06 PM on 02/25/2011

I don't know much about Baltimore to D. C., but a line from L. A. to a Ghost town in the making does not make sense to me.

[Onertwo19]

12:43 PM on 02/26/2011

Perhaps a train would rescue this ghost town.

[tinrobot]

01:39 AM on 02/27/2011

Those are two very odd choices.

California needs San Francisco to Los Angeles to San Diego a lot more than it needs Las Vegas.

The East Coast needs Boston to New York to DC.

The Midwest could use a few lines centering around Chicago.

Seattle to Portland would also work, among many others.

[OzoneTom]

05:48 PM on 04/11/2011

I have to agree. At first glance it DOES look like it would make sense -- given the traffic going to and from LV, but the current water demands of population and tourism there are not sustainable.

I would not be buying any of the "bargains" in LV real estate today -- the last time that the LV water supply was as low as it is today the entire population was about what the tourist count alone is today.

Unless 90% of the train is going to be carrying water (which LA does not have enough of anyway) -- this idea is a dead-end.

In my view CA needs to maintain a focus on connecting the Bay Area, Central Valley/Sacramento and LA -- then San Diego.