Amtrak's approach of being a niche, semi-luxury (while not actually offering luxury) option is a recipe for its ongoing failure. We need practical, affordable rail transportation for the masses.

That means vision and investment. Government will need to play a more productive role. /6/end

But for this trip I just can't make it work.

TL;DR we need better trains in America. @amtrak.com needs to seriously up its game.

I get that there are a shortage of sleeper cars so they command luxury rates. So Build. More. Sleeper. Cars.

Also: move to fixed rates. This value pricing sucks. /5

Don't get me wrong. The personal emissions benefits of not flying are huge. Even with a one-way flight, the emissions of flying to Orlando are ~600-800 lbs. of CO2e when you factor in radiative forcing. Whereas Amtrak is less than half of that, because the NE corridor (DC to Boston) is electric. /4

Add to this the absurd cost of Amtrak's sleeper cars. Literally $650 more for my return trip - more than a luxury hotel. And while I like the roomette, it is not luxury hotel.

I can't justify this. I'll be taking coach. And it's a lot to ask to do overnight in coach both ways on a business trip. /3

Mostly because the @amtrak.com options are awful. While this trip would take 10 hours in China, it takes a minimum of 28 hours on Amtrak. Which means overnight. Also, it's basically one train per day, so its badly parked cars when trying to arrive for a specific time slot.

No bueno. /2

Today I booked travel for a speaking engagement, and it really demonstrated how hard it is to reduce personal emissions when traveling in the USA - particularly for business travel.

I ended up doing a flight to Orlando and @amtrak.com back.

Why not Amtrak both ways (lower emissions)? /1

Thanks RFK!

I am so here for this. Thank you for your leadership @rokhanna.bsky.social.

We don’t really have seasonal storage. The closest is making hydrogen and burning it instead of gas in power plants.

Not terribly efficient, but the best option to date.

Steve's reporting first made me aware of this issue. And thank you to @de-icecitizensbank.org for your work raising this issue. Without this, I would not have known.

BTW, at Navigant they said a lot of people are signing up for new accounts. And they know why.

It's working. /8/end

Protesters target Citizens Bank over its financing of ICE prisons "Citizens says it is dedicated to fostering strong communities and social responsibility, but its longstanding support for prison companies and ICE detention centers is exactly the opposite."

If you are still banking at Citizens Bank: leave. Put your $ somewhere else. Do not be complicit in concentration camps and the imprisoning of children & adults under vicious conditions.

& thank you @steveahlquist.bsky.social for your reporting on this./7

steveahlquist.substack.com/p/protesters...

Donations Donations People helping people. That’s what a credit union, and in particular, Navigant Credit Union, is all about. We are committed to the financial well-being of the families, businesses, and […]

To be clear, it was not my first choice to go to a financial institution with no branches outside RI and no branches that I can easily bike to (the latter is the worst part). But at Navigant my money goes to the local community & local non-profits. /6

navigantcu.org/donations/

About Us Learn about Navigant Credit Union and meet our Leadership team!

So I had to go farther afield. As for Navigant: I have seen no evidence that they fund private prisons and it would be weird if they funded the oil and gas industry as Navigant only exists in #RhodeIsland and there is no oil and gas extraction here. /5

navigantcu.org/about-us/

Top 6 U.S. Banks Financed Fossil Fuels with $1.8 trillion Since the Paris Agreement; Chase, Citi, & Bank of America Top the List Worldwide New York, NY — Released today, the 15th annual Banking on Climate Chaos (BOCC) report employs a new, expanded data set that credits each bank making financial contributions to a deal instead of only c...

I think looked a Chase, which has a branch on Thayer. Chase doesn't fund private prisons! But it does (heavily) fund the oil and gas industry. Which heavily invests in the Republican Party. Which... I think you know where I am going here. /4

www.sierraclub.org/press-releas...

Private Prison Companies’ Enormous Windfall: Who Stands to Gain as ICE Expands For years private prison companies have been an important partner for ICE as the government carries out its immigration agenda.

I looked at Bank of America, which has a branch in my 'hood. BofA funds a lot of renewable energy projects, which I like. And in 2019 they agreed to stop working with private prison contractors.

In 2025 they renegged on this and are back to funding gulags. /3

www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

'If You Can Keep It': The Private Companies Profiting Off ICE : 1A President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has real human costs. Some 13 people have been shot by ICE and federal agents since September, two of which were fatal. The number of people held in dete...

Specifically, Citizens continues to fund CoreCivic and Geo Group, two private prison contractors that have opened at least nine ICE concentration camps over the last year.

No bueno.

What's been harder is finding a replacement bank. /2

www.npr.org/2026/02/23/n...

Protests across eastern U.S. criticize Citizens Bank over private prison financing PROVIDENCE – About 100 protesters gathered outside the Citizens Bank branch at 120 Waterman St. on Providence’s East Side on March 7, as part of a regional campaign targeting the bank’s financial rela...

This morning I opened accounts at #RhodeIsland 's Navigant Credit Union. This was so that I can close my accounts at Citizens Bank as soon as I get the necessary details transferred over.

I am leaving Citizens due to their funding of #ICE concentration camps. /1

pbn.com/protests-acr...

Yep - that hot air rising in the Central Valley pulling air off the ocean is probably why the wind in many parts of California is stronger in the spring and summer.

Letter to the Editor: Take a pause on changing the Renewable Energy Standard - What's Up Newp It is bad policy and bad business to push back the Renewable Energy Standard to 2040 or 2050. Rolling back the Renewable Energy Standard and retroactively changing rates on the life of  net metering p...

Thank you Deb Ruggiero. I agree 100%. #RhodeIsland #renewableenergy

whatsupnewp.com/2026/04/lett...

California has *massive* amounts of solar and batteries that are taking care of summer demand and over-producing in the spring. The need for fall/winter power isn't because there is more demand then, but less solar generation.

Yes, this is 100% true. But you still need winter power.

Overall, you end up with excess power in the spring any way you slice it.

Oh - and EIA updated its graphics on wind output, which now show the Southwest and its higher fall/winter/spring wind output. /4

www.eia.gov/todayinenerg...

SunZia Wind and Transmission :: Pattern Energy SunZia Wind and Transmission together will create the largest clean energy infrastructure project in United States history. The project will harness and deliver renewable energy, power critical to mee...

The solution? Wind from the Southwest/Mountain West, which has higher fall/winter output. And build massive power lines to get that electricity to the West Coast.

Thus: SunZia. /3

patternenergy.com/projects/sun...

Wind generation seasonal patterns vary across the United States - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

I consider this geographic idiosyncrasy to be the biggest challenge to California's #enegytransition: unlike nearly all other places I've studied, the wind on the US West Coast is stronger in spring/summer than fall/winter. /2

www.eia.gov/todayinenerg...

@amo.house.gov the evidence is clear that Kennedy is a quack and a danger to public health. Will you co-sponsor these articles of impeachment?

ANOTHER death in ICE detention.

We have enough Democratic senators enabling #Israel 's war crimes. We don't need another one.

Also: the moral clarity on this and other pressing issues is why I support @grahamformaine.bsky.social for US senate in Maine.

Hot damn this is good news. And unlike the wind built in California, this is likely to generate more in the fall and winter, when it is needed.

Also: this project took far too long to come online and it demonstrates the need for federal permitting reform, particularly for #transmission. /3/end

This power is sorely needed in California to balance out its #solar power, which generates more in the spring and summer. The same way that we need #offshorewind in New England to complement our growing solar fleet.

Also: the #energytransition is happening, including in the USA, Trump or no. /2