The following excerpt appeared in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin on September 7, 2017. To read the full Editorial, click here.

Gold Line extension perfect project for cap-and-trade funds – Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

A Metro Gold Line train rolls down the track in February 2016. (Photo by Walt Mancini/Southern California News Group)

By The Editorial Board

September 7, 2017

[Excerpt]:

We’ve long considered Gov. Jerry Brown’s high-speed rail to be an unaffordable project that drains way too much money away from things that should be much higher priorities for California.

But regional rail lines that actually get people to and from work, school and recreational activities while thinning freeway traffic are another matter entirely — well worth the investment of public funds.

That’s why we applaud the efforts by some local legislators to have cap-and-trade revenue spent on closing the funding gap for the $1.48 billion extension of Metro’s Gold Line light rail from Glendora to Montclair.

State Sens. Anthony Portantino, D-La Cañada Flintridge (whose district stretches east to Upland), and Connie Leyva, D-Chino, and Assemblyman Freddie Rodriguez, D-Chino, recently sent a letter requesting the funding to Senate Pro Tem Kevin de León and Sens. Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, chair of the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, and Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont, chair of the budget Subcommittee on Resources, Environmental Protection, Energy and Transportation, and also chair of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee.

To read the full Editorial, click here.