Posted on 05/02/2024 1:07:55 PM PDT by karpov
American federalism is struggling. Federal rules are an overwhelming presence in every state government, and some states, due to their size or other leverage, can impose their own policies on much or all of the country. The problem has been made clearer by an under-the-radar plan to phase out diesel locomotives in California. If the federal government provides the state with a helping hand, it would bring nationwide repercussions for a vital, overlooked industry.
Various industry and advocacy groups are lining up against California's costly measure, calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deny a waiver needed to fully implement it. In the past month, more than 30 leading conservative organizations and individuals, hundreds of state and local chambers of commerce, and the U.S. agricultural sector have pleaded with the EPA to help stop this piece of extremism from escaping one coastal state.
Railroads may not be something most Americans, whose attention is on their own cars and roads, think about often. But rail is the most basic infrastructure of interstate commerce, accounting for around 40 percent of long-distance ton-miles. It's also fairly clean, accounting for less than 1 percent of total U.S. emissions. Private companies, like Union Pacific in the West or CSX in the East, pay for their infrastructure and equipment. These facts haven't stopped the regulatory power grab.
Most importantly, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) regulation would have all freight trains operate in zero-emission configuration by 2035. At the end of the decade, the state is mandating the retirement of diesel locomotives 23 years or older, despite typically useful lives of over 40 years. Starting in 2030, new passenger locomotives must operate with zero emissions, with new engines for long-haul freight trains following by 2035. It limits locomotive idling and increases reporting requirements.
(Excerpt) Read more at reason.com ...
Harry Reid, are you still trying to arrange pork for your birthplace?
Mexico would NOT put up with the crap that is passing for 'law' in California these dahys!
One corn or 20 mules?
Why?
The public has been cajoled into thinking that PUBLIC 'servant' means something else.
There's two Californias. There's the California that extends from the beach to about 15 miles inland. And then there's the rest of the state. Unfortunately, the first group of Californians control everything.
I don’t know how to post a pic.
Hybrid…
So much comes into California ports, it will cause serious issues. Great opportunity for Mexico. Build large port in Ensenada and work on rail line connecting into Union Pacific in Yuma, AZ. Bypass California all together.
The deisel engine is simply a generator driving motor.
So, in essence, it is all electric, just like a tesla. The difference is that while the tesla plugs into a charge staion that is hooked up to a gas or coal or deisel powered eletricity generating plant, the train simply carries a deisel with it, a portable charging station. The embicles wish to cancel the portable charging station that the electric locomotive uses to run it's electric motors.
> Yes, that would be great. But are the power plants generating the electricity also ‘zero emission’? If not, then what’s the point?
In the second link that i gave, it is stated that
“Annual emissions reduced by 250K MTC02...
equivalent to taking 55,000 cars off the road”
(aeemingly, this is only valid if one ascribes CO2 production as a big threat to the environment)
> Where is the electricity for trains going to come from?
I dunno; perhaps from conservation engendered by “conservative” PG&E rate hikes?:
‘It’s A Huge Problem’: California’s Sky-High Electricity Prices Bring A Shock To Biden’s EV Dreams
dailycallernewsfoundation.org/ ^ | 4/7/2022 | Thomas Catenacci
Posted on 4/8/2022, 7:48:55 AM by rktman
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4053347/posts
Put solar panels on top of the locomotives. Problem solved.
> Isn’t that how the European trains are powered?
according to the article link below, European railroads are 60% electrified, and the percentage is climbing.
Let California rot on the vine.
Are you sure that this URL address iscorrect?
“according to the article link below, European railroads are 60% electrified, and the percentage is climbing.
Interesting article. I think electric train propulsion with overhead wires is a good idea. The article is worth reading.
The author is a greenie so, for instance, I’m not sure of his claim that truck hauling using battery powered trucks will put a lot of rail lines out of business.
I’d also like to know why there hasn’t been more electrification of our rail lines. The rail transportation industry needs to tell its side of the story.
I have invented the “trans” locomotive:
It’s a physically diesel-electric unit, but identifies as all-electric. The Left will not be able to resist my locomotives without falling headlong into abject transphobia.
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