This week our focus is railway safety to prevent the kind of accident that occurred a few weeks ago when a Norfolk Southern train carrying vinyl chloride, a known cancer-causing toxic chemical used for plastics, derailed in the small town of East Palestine, Ohio, marking one of the U.S.’s biggest environmental disasters in recent memory. This disaster was preventable.
After officials decided to burn these hazardous materials to prevent an explosion, the toxic plume could be seen and smelled from miles away. A strong odor remains in the area still, and people as far as 25 miles away are reporting symptoms and people are concerned about seepage of toxic substances into the ground water. At the same time, wildlife and family pets are becoming gravely ill or dying.
The suffering and damage this accident caused in Pennsylvania and Ohio didn’t need to happen. The Trump Administration rolled back common-sense regulations on updating rail braking systems, which is exactly what contributed to the disaster in Ohio.
We are demanding that Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg reinstate rules on braking systems and strengthen regulations on the transport of hazardous material by rail. And this needs to happen NOW.
While increased regulation is an imperative for the immediate term, the East Palestine accident puts a spotlight on a bigger long-term problem, the failure of the freight rail companies to make the necessary investments in their infrastructure and human resources to improve safety, efficiency and customer service. For years, accidents have been increasing, shipper complaints of poor service have been increasing and passenger trains are increasingly delayed. And, this doesn’t even touch on the investment in electrification that will be needed to meet our climate goals.
This is due to the rail companies being more focused on meeting Wall Street’s short-term financial expectations than serving the transportation needs of the country now and into the future. Shortly before the accident in East Palestine, Norfolk Southern Railway announced $10 billion in stock buybacks to increase its stock price, enriching its executives and shareholders.
There are real consequences for everyone when corporations spend money on buybacks instead of investing in their infrastructure and work force. Railroad Workers United called the massive accident “years in the making” with one journalist calling the catastrophe “a predictable consequence of Wall Street-backed policy decisions that have hollowed out the industry’s workforce, pushed remaining employees to chronic exhaustion and sacrificed safety for profits.”
Therefore, we are also strongly urging the Administration and the Senate to explore the benefits of nationalizing the railroad system and develop a plan to implement it.
As with the highway system, the government only needs to breakeven, not meet someone’s profit expectations. The current rail companies would continue to operate as freight companies, but relieved of the burden of making a return on a huge infrastructure investment and only paying for what they use. A nationalized system would also be open to other users and make possible a truly competitive rail system.
By utilizing user fees and the borrowing power of the federal government, a nationalized railroad system would be able to make the investments needed to improve safety, efficiency and travel times greatly benefiting shippers, passengers and the national economy.
Options to Take Action:
- Sign a letter at the Action Table on Sunday.
- Download, sign and mail the action letter to President Biden, Sec. Buttigieg, Sen. Feinstein, Sen. Padilla.
- Go to the Food and Water Watch website and participate in their action calling for increased regulation.
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If you ever need to look up your member of the U.S. House of Representatives or your U.S. Senators check here: www.house.gov and www.senate.gov.
To find contact information for your California State Senator or California State Assemblymember check here: www.senate.ca.gov and www.assembly.ca.gov.
Take Action
Every week at All Saints Church we put our faith into action. This week our focus is railway safety to prevent the kind of accident that occurred a few weeks ago when a Norfolk Southern train carrying vinyl chloride derailed in the small town of East Palestine, Ohio, marking one of the U.S.’s biggest environmental disasters in recent memory. This disaster was preventable.