Gail "for Rail" Parker Urges Immediate Expansion of Yellow/Blue Metro Lines in Northern Virginia

Online, August 21, 2013 (Newswire.com) - This is Gail's 9th straight year on the ballot to advocate for rail as a solution to our fossil fuel dependency and as a national security concern. The Independent Green nominee Gail "for Rail" Parker, is the sole challenge to the incumbent in the 43rd District (district runs from Huntington to Lorton).

Gail declares, "We have an opportunity to move toward energy sources that are renewable and sustainable for us and for the generations following us. By becoming more energy efficient we can improve our global competitiveness in the future. Rail can help make us free of dependence on consumable fossil fuels. We also need to transition buildings and housing to renewable energy. Buildings and housing account for 40% of energy consumption in US."

Her focus on our Nation's reliance on fossil fuels is increasingly a National Security concern. She explains, "We can cut our dependency on oil by transition to renewable energy both in our housing and by building rail; light rail in our population centers that feed into high-speed rail nationwide - trains as fast as planes."

"Every year we import about $300 Billion in foreign oil products. For one third of that amount we could build a state-of-the-art nationwide high-speed rail system that would cut our consumption of foreign oil in half."

For Northern Virginia and residents of the 43rd District, she urges extension of both the Yellow and Blue Metro lines. "These proposals have been discussed for years, but now that we have dedicated state transportation funding in place, there is no excuse not to fast-track extension of these lines. Voters understand and support the need for extending existing lines and building feeder rail systems in our communities that will feed into a national high-speed rail network."

Yellow Line to Ft. Belvoir, site of thousands of newly relocated federal jobs. Blue Line to Woodbridge. We should even go further in the region with Orange Line extension down Interstate 66 as originally intended, taking it all the way to Haymarket. And an additional light rail feeder up Route 28 from Manassas to Dulles Airport. We could start it now and have it finished by the time Metorrail arrives at Dulles.

According to Gail, Rail Transit is the public transport method of choice for the typical Northern Virginia resident stuck in the nation's worst traffic based on commuting times. "Local commuters prefer not to sit in traffic and choose to ride trains. Clean, fast, quiet, safe trains.

"We also need dedicated passenger rail track for the Virginia Railway Express. Folks down route would like to see it run in other times of the day and on weekends besides just the current traditional commuter times. In the National Capital Region, emergency evacuation is a real concern. Hurricane Katrina demonstrated that relying on automobiles for evacuation did not provide enough support. Hurricane Sandy demonstrated how rail can move large numbers of people in a very short time. We need new track, with more trains, that run more often to more places!"

Gail has long developed her rail advocacy credentials since qualifying for the statewide ballot for the US Senate in 2006. She points out that rail benefits communities in so many ways: home values located near rail increase in value. In contrast, homes near interstate highways decrease in value.

Current federal policies offer an 80% federal subsidy to local authorities for building roads. Conversely, federal taxpayers are only responsible for 20% of rail expansion.

Gail continues, "That is why it is important to elect rail advocates to both federal and state-level offices. We need More Trains, Less Traffic. We need to build Rail NOW! And move rapidly to alternative energy sources that are renewable and sustainable, sources that are not used up in consumption."

View more details on Gail Parker and the eight other House of Delegates candidates endorsed by the Independent Greens of Virginia at www.VoteJoinRun.us.