First off, I want to state that I think that expanding high speed rail between Chicago and Detroit would be a great option, if at all feasible.

Now, for my devil's advocate question: Would it not be more green to stay at home and watch a baseball game on TV than to take a train several hundred miles? I suppose the response would be that one now might drive or take a flight, which is more polluting. But if high-speed rail were to make such trips more convenient and cheap, surely more people would travel than before.