Scrambling to put together some last minute Thanksgiving travel plans? Planning ahead for the winter holidays? Consider taking the train. Matt Yglesias from Think Progress blogged recently about the environmental benefits of traveling by train which this graphic from the U.S. DOT demonstrates:

The huge difference in the amount of energy used for travel by automobile versus passenger rail is one of the primary reasons RF calls for reducing vehicle miles traveled to help meet our emissions goals.

Also if the environmental argument isn’t enough to sway you consider this: no pat-downs.