by
Walter Brasch
It’s 3 p.m., and you’re cruising down a rural road, doing about
50.
A quarter mile away is a sign, with flashing yellow lights,
alerting you to slow down to 15. It’s a school zone.
But, you don’t see any children. Besides, you’re going to be
late to your racquetball match. So, you just slide on past.
You’re an independent long-haul trucker. You get paid by the
number of miles you drive. If you work just a couple of hours longer every day
than the limits set by the federal government—and if you can drive 75 or 80
instead of 65, you can earn more income. You have your uppers and energy
drinks, so you believe you should be able to work a couple of hours a day more
than the regulations, and drive faster than established speed limits. Now, let’s pretend you’re the CEO of a
railroad. Your trains have been hauling 100 tanker cars of crude oil from North
Dakota to refineries in Philadelphia and the Gulf Coast. That’s 100 tankers on each train. A mile long.
About 90 percent of the 106,000
tanker cars currently in service were built before 2011 when stricter
regulations mandated a new design. The older cars are susceptible to leaks,
explosions, and fires in derailments. But, because of intense lobbying by the
railroads, they are still carrying oil.
Railroad derailments in the United States last year accounted for
more than one million gallons of spilled oil, more than all spills in the 40
years since the federal government began collecting data. The oil pollutes the
ground and streams; the fires and explosions pollute the air.
Most of the derailments
threatened public safety and led to evacuation of residential areas. One
derailment led to the deaths of 47 persons, the destruction of a business
district, and an estimated $2 billion for long-term pollution clean-up and
rebuilding of homes and businesses. Three derailments, including one in a
residential area of Philadelphia, occurred this past year in Pennsylvania.
The derailment and
explosions of “bomb trains” became so severe
that in May the Department of Transportation declared the movement by
trains of crude oil from North Dakota derived
by the process known as fracking posed an “imminent hazard.”
The federal government wants to reduce the speed limit for
those trains carrying highly toxic and explosive crude oil.
If you’re Hunter Harrison, CEO of Canadian Pacific (CP), you
say you “don’t know of any incidents with crude that’s being caused by speed,”
and then tell your investors, “We don’t get better with speed [reduction]. We
get worse.”
If you’re Charles Moorman, CEO of Norfolk Southern, you agree
completely with your colleague from CN, and say that a higher speed limit is
safe.
If you’re Michael Ward, CEO of freight giant CSX, you say that
lower speed limits “severely limit our ability to provide reliable freight
service to our customers.”
You and your fellow CEOs have even had one dozen meetings with
White House officials to explain why slower speeds are not in the nation’s best
interest. You explain that your railroad should be allowed to determine the
best speed for your trains.
Driving a car through a school zone, you don’t have the right
to determine your best speed.
Driving a truck on interstate highways, you don’t have the
right to determine your maximum speed.
But, if you’re a multi-billion dollar railroad industry, you
think you have the right to set the rules.
[Dr. Brasch is a former
newspaper and magazine writer and editor. He is the author of 20 books, most
fusing historical and contemporary social issues. His latest book is Fracking Pennsylvania: Flirting With
Disaster.]
