Streetcars are powered by electricity and are zero emission vehicles. Cincinnati suffers from too many smog alerts and too many days where the air is unhealthy to breathe. The streetcar alone won’t cut our emissions down to a safe level, but it is a step in the right direction.

Instead of focusing unproven technologies like switch-grass ethanol, hydrogen power, carbon sequestration, tar sands, and oil shale, the streetcar uses technologies that exist and are commercially viable now.

The electricity can be provided by coal, a resource the United States has in abundance or can be powered by wind, solar, or any other alternative source. If the United States wants to achieve energy independence, a viable mass transit system must by an important component. The streetcar system is a step in the right direction.