(The following editorial by Carl Howard appeared on the Orlando Sentinel website on May 7. Mr. Howard teaches fourth grade in Orlando.)
ORLANDO — My $600 economic-stimulus check is on the way, and a friend of mine wants me to buy beer with it. His logic is sound, if you ask him to explain.
If I buy clothes, they are likely manufactured in China. If I buy electronics, they are likely manufactured in Japan. If I make an extra car payment, it benefits the foreign workers and companies who manufactured my car.
Beer — at least the brands my friend and I enjoy — is made in America. If we want to have maximum stimulus of the American economy, we must buy American.
Of course, this conversation between my friend and me is, in large part, humor. But it sets the stage and mind for a conversation about the recent CSX legislation.
Alternatives to surface traffic are the right thing to do for the environment, both locally and on the larger scale. Thinking about responsible growth and development, commuter rail is at the top of my list of options to benefit just about everyone concerned. The $300 million in federal funding for this project would be a refreshing respite from the normal routine of reliance on tourist dollars that make up the bulk of our region’s economy.
However, say what you will about lawyers, they got it right on this one. One of the greatest features of our democracy is the right to a trial by jury. If jurors see an error so egregious that they want to award enormous sums of money to a plaintiff, then good for the plaintiff. That should be a message to those responsible for setting up and helping grow large corporations in a way that safety for the workers as well as other individuals is not the primary concern. It should never be cheaper to be unsafe and pay out a maximum award than it is to spend money in order to be safe. The liability limits from the rail plan that was defeated would have left a situation ripe for abuse of safety and curtailed the options of juries to do their jobs.
I hope and pray that next year our legislators and other leaders get it right. They should start planning now to protect workers, protect the environment and protect the other rights of individuals that afford us safety and security as we use commuter rail.
It would be great to have $300 million in federal money. It would be great to have a transportation feature that is better for the environment. But if you leave out one of these crucial components, it simply isn’t worth it.