California magical thinking will derail America
Excerpt:
The unelected California Air Resources Board, which has been working for years to force the rest of the country to ban internal combustion engines in cars and trucks, now wants to control the nation’s railroads.
If approved by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, a board proposal to phase-out diesel locomotives will affect rail service throughout the U.S. as interstate railroads divert billions of dollars from safety, maintenance and congestion projects. It could also put some California shortline railroads that carry farm commodities and supplies out of business.
It must be stopped.
Under the proposed rule, beginning in 2030 diesel locomotives operating in California can’t be older than 23 years. New engines on freight trains must be zero emission by 2035.
The rule requires railroad companies to set aside money in restricted spending accounts beginning in 2026 for the conversion based on what the air resources board calls a “conservative estimate of the health costs attributable to their California emissions.”
.....Railroads, operating in the real world and not the board’s fantasy land, point out the absurdity of its proposal — starting with the lack of any practical zero emission locomotive equipment.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Webtec Corp. has only recently produced the world’s first battery-powered locomotive. But it depends on a diesel-powered engine for backup.
Locomotives powered fully by batteries don’t exist. If they did, they would be incredibly heavy and require hours to recharge.
Rail companies operate a national system that can’t stop at the stateline to switch equipment, so the major lines say they have no choice but to convert their entire fleet with whatever equipment exists that will meet the requirements.
The railroad industry filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. The suit alleges the rule violates the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act, the Locomotive Inspection Act, Clean Air Act and the dormant commerce clause.
California — joined by Oregon, Washington and other states that follow California’s emission mandates — has moved to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing it’s premature for the district court to hear a challenge to a rule the EPA hasn’t approved.
The California Air Resources Board’s magical thinking can’t be allowed to stand.
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More reason for the state of New California. If it is formed then most of this tyrannical legal nonsense would vanish. Also the author thinks railroads would still serve California, what if they decided not to and allowed trucking or other transportation to bring product to say Nevada.
Reminds me... of the past.