Why environmentalists should be rail backers, and vice versa

I consider myself both an environmentalist and an avid railroad booster, and I do not see these as being at odds with each other. My broad definition of environmentalism includes anything having to do with maintaining earth’s life support systems and its ecological functioning, both of which are preconditions for all human activity — without a healthy planet, there is no economy and no quality of life. It also has to do with sustaining the human presence on this planet for the long term. 

Thriving passenger and freight rail networks are generally in alignment with these purposes. No more energy or space-efficient means of moving large quantities or heavy loads of goods or people over land has yet been devised, and electric traction railroads remain the only proven means of moving goods or people reliably over long distances using only electricity, which can more easily be produced from clean and renewable sources than motor fuels. Plus, passenger train and rail transit travel encourages the preservation and appreciation of landscapes, as well as the development of compact, walkable communities and the revitalization of existing (often historic) ones. 

These kinds of places — small town Main Streets and public squares, dense retail strips teeming with pedestrian traffic, and streetcar suburbs — are those people tend to care about more than sprawling, car-oriented fields of strip malls, big box stores and acres of parking lots. The more people care about how a place looks and feels on foot or through a train window, the more they will be inspired to act to maintain its long-term health and vitality.

However, there are some areas in which railroads — particularly on the freight side — may seem to work at cross-purposes with sustainability goals. This column will point to ways that these divergences may be reconciled. The central conflict is between the sustainable ideal of small-scale, local production of food and other necessities and the large-scale, continental and intercontinental production and distribution networks that the railroad network helps to make possible. When a widely-deployed technology makes it possible to ship large quantities of food, fuel and other materials inexpensively to far-flung markets, producers will be incentivized to cultivate and extract these materials on massive scales. Industrial agriculture, fossil fuel extraction, and the like all put great strains on air, water, soil and biological systems. Not to mention that these activities also produce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, which poses a host of risks to the economy and life as we know it.

Moving these products by rail is certainly more earth- and climate-friendly than doing so any way other than by ship. But would not having an efficient way of moving them over long distances mean a return to smaller-scale production to serve local markets? Perhaps in the long run, but the chances of an immediate (within the next 50 to 100 years) return to using locally or regionally-produced food and fuels are slim to none. Therefore, environmentalists should have an interest in maintaining and improving railroads so that traffic is fluid throughout the network, further reducing the amount of fuel needed to move a load from origin to destination.

At the same time, large-scale agriculture can be made more sustainable through widespread adoption of best practices in stormwater management, rotating crops, maintaining soil health, reducing or eliminating chemical use, etc. And better pollution management techniques can be used in coal, oil and gas extraction while we also invest in ramping up production of clean and renewable ways to power vehicles and produce electricity.

One cannot fault freight railroads for environmental costs and byproducts of the materials they carry, nor for the harmful practices of their shippers. Railroads are constantly becoming cleaner and more efficient (thanks in part to government regulations, but thanks also to the cost savings involved) and have the potential to become many times cleaner through electrification. Farther into the future, railroads will certainly be able to adapt to changing transportation demands and patterns that may be necessitated by resource shortages and climate change. And I am confident that greater cooperation between freight railroads and passenger rail interests will allow the latter sector to grow and serve more travelers all over the country without negatively impacting the former.

The rail industry has evolved continuously over its history in response to the pressures of markets, government and society, and will continue to make adjustments. It is up to us, as consumers and as citizens in a democracy, to guide them on a path of sustainable growth.