From trains to electric cars, this has been an exciting week for investments in climate friendly transportation.

In Michigan, home of the fossil fuel friendly and bankrupt American automakers, Governor Jennifer Granholm put her money where her mouth is when it comes to green jobs. The green Governor announced tax breaks for advanced battery companies to set up shop in her state, and firms are swarming. Along with help from Federal stimulus money, four companies already committed to invest $1.7 billion to set up their assembly lines in the state and create 6,700 much needed jobs.

Another exciting development in green recovery happened this morning when Vice President Biden introduced the $8 billion dollar federal plan to expand high speed rail as allocated in the recovery package. High speed rail has the potential to create thousands of jobs and drastically reduce our transportation carbon footprint. Many people (me, Europeans, Joe Biden) would also argue that it improves quality of life and inter-city trade by reducing traffic congestion, providing stress-free inter-city travel and providing a low-cost travel alternative. Check out the map of proposed routes below the fold to see if you’ll have access to high-speed rail.

These are just two examples of how investments in clean energy and public transportation create jobs and stimulate the economy. A cap and trade bill would add to this by finally increasing the cost of polluting and redirecting public and private funds towards projects which build towards a cleaner and more prosperous future.