EDITORIAL: The left eats its own when it comes to California high-speed rail project

There’s perhaps no better example of poetic justice than when a liberal-backed boondoggle gets bogged down by regulations propagated by the left. Not surprisingly, California brims with examples.

As Maura Dolan and Ralph Vartabedian reported for the Los Angeles Times last week, California’s high-speed train project is likely to continue facing environmental challenges as a result of a decision by the state’s top court. In a 6-1 ruling last month written by Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, the California Supreme Court held that federal rail law does not usurp California’s tough environmental regulations for state-owned rail projects.

Ms. Dolan and Mr. Vartabedian noted the ruling clears the way for opponents of the bullet train to file more lawsuits as construction proceeds.

It also allows Californians to challenge other rail uses, such as the movement of crude oil from fracking. Perish the thought of moving fuel that provides the state’s citizens a modicum of relief from the highest average gas prices in the continental United States.

While it would benefit beleaguered California taxpayers if the state dropped this megabillion-dollar white elephant, watching the leftist environmental lobby stall a progressive favorite is certainly amusing.

When voters approved this project in 2008, it was supposed to cost $40 billion to run a line from San Francisco to Anaheim. Surprise! That turned out to be a wishful thinking bait-and-switch. Last year, that number was amended upward by 60 percent, to $64 billion. Expect it to keep trending toward Pluto.

Further, earlier this year, there were reports that the first 119 miles of construction were running 50 percent over budget, a point the High-Speed Rail Authority disputed, claiming work was running under budget and on time.

However, as the San Jose Mercury News reported, the first 29 miles of the Central Valley section was originally due to finish this year but has now been pushed back to August 2019. Such delays don’t normally characterize efficient, financially stable projects.

It’s not unreasonable to expect similar delays in subsequent sections, all in the name of a money-siphoning monster designed to appease big government greens — and surely big labor — while taxpayers are left struggling to hold an ever-expanding bag.

It’s a long shot, of course, that members of the uber-liberal California Legislature would rethink the rail initiative, regardless of how much taxpayer cash it devours. But the project should serve as fair warning to politicians across the land — including right here in Nevada and in Clark County — about the folly of monument building with other people’s money.