Gentlemen, start your pick-up trucks. High speed rail is out in the Lone Star State, but high speed trail may be in. A bill has been introduced into the Texas legislature that would raise the speed limit to 85 miles per hour.
Please note that ABC News frames this as an anti-conservation story, not a states rights story:
Consumers will see an “increase in demand for petroleum because as we go faster our cars get a lot less fuel efficiency,” says Patrick DeHaan, a senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com, a gas price sharing website.
The bill, introduced by Texas Rep. Lois W. Kolkhort, would make the 85 mph limit the highest in the country, according to the Dallas Morning News. A similar plan is being considered by the state Senate, according to the AP.
But first the measure, which is part of a larger transportation bill, must pass engineering testing and other studies before the Texas Department of Transportation authorizes it.
It’s almost guaranteed that the Feds are going to hate this law almost as much as they hate Arizona’s illegal alien law. Why, how dare those damn cowboys flaunt their disrespect for President Obama’s Department of Transportation.
Good luck getting your electric pick-ups up to 85 mph, buckeroos.
Source: ABC News
