The last time we reported on trains in California, a bipartisan congressional group from Nevada and California asked the Biden administration for federal funds to build a high-speed rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area.
Now, California is proposing to ban diesel and other non-electric train engines…as well as control their idling time.
On Thursday, the California Air Resource Board (CARB), a state agency tasked with protecting air quality and reducing harmful pollution, announced that it would pursue aggressive regulations to limit freight train emissions. The so-called In-Use Locomotive Regulation makes California the first state to tackle freight train emissions which represent just 0.5% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to federal data.”Locomotives are a key part of California’s transportation network, and it’s time that they are part of the solution to tackle pollution and clean our air,” CARB Chair Liane Randolph said in a statement Thursday. “With the new regulation, we are moving toward a future where all transportation operations in the state will be zero emissions.”Under the regulation, California will ban any locomotive engine that was constructed more than 23 years ago by 2030. And the rule would require all new switch, industrial and passenger locomotives to be zero-emissions while in California beginning in 2030 and 2035 for freight line haul.In addition, locomotives will only be allowed to idle for a maximum of 30 minutes under the regulation.
Like the Toyota CEO who warns that car technology isn’t poised to meet green-energy regulatory demands, railroad officials argue the the proposed rules are unrealistic.
The Association of American Railroads said in a statement “there is no clear path to zero emissions locomotives.”“Mandating that result ignores the complexity and interconnected nature of railroad operations and the reality of where zero emission locomotive technology and the supporting infrastructure stand,” the group wrote….Kristen South, a Union Pacific spokesperson, said in a statement the rail company is “deeply disappointed” by the vote, adding that the rule is too ambitious for the current technology and infrastructure.Union Pacific is working to cut greenhouse gas emissions in part by spending $1 billion to modernize locomotives and testing out engines powered by electric batteries, South wrote.
At the same time, they are nixing everything but electricity. California regulators want to prohibit the construction of natural-gas power plants.
The proposal, which goes before the California Air Resources Board for a vote next month, lays out how the state could reach its goal of carbon neutrality by 2045, one of the most ambitious timelines in the nation. While it does not have the force of a legal ban on new gas power plants, its approval would make clear to other state agencies, including the California Public Utilities Commission, the state’s current policy.
Without nuclear power, California regulators are betting everything on a green energy strategy reliant on varying wind, light, and water levels. Failure is the foreseeable consequence of these choices.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY