Solutionary Rail: A people-powered campaign to electrify America's railroads and open corridors to a clean energy future

Could railroads, the oldest form of mechanized mass transportation, be the key to unlocking solutions to some of the greatest challenges of the 21st century? Unique among modes of long-haul transport, rail can be electrified. So, why not power trains with renewable energy? Might a clean, modernized, higher-speed rail network draw freight and passengers off the highways and back onto the tracks? Could electrifying the railroads actually open new transmission corridors and increase the supply and reliability of electricity from wind and solar? If the rest of the world is already electrifying their railroads, why isn't the US?

After three years of inquiry with experts and stakeholders, the Solutionary Rail team addresses these questions and more. The Solutionary Rail vision draws unlikely allies together. It provides common cause to workers, farmers, tribes, urban and rural communities via the tracks and corridors that connect them. Solutionary Rail invites railroads into a win-win partnership with We the People. Solutionary Rail charts a path forward to tackle interlocking economic, environmental, and social problems. Part action plan and part manifesto, this book launches a new people-powered campaign to transform the way we use trains and the corridors they travel through. So, echoing the conductor's call, "All aboard!"

1125085840
Solutionary Rail: A people-powered campaign to electrify America's railroads and open corridors to a clean energy future

Could railroads, the oldest form of mechanized mass transportation, be the key to unlocking solutions to some of the greatest challenges of the 21st century? Unique among modes of long-haul transport, rail can be electrified. So, why not power trains with renewable energy? Might a clean, modernized, higher-speed rail network draw freight and passengers off the highways and back onto the tracks? Could electrifying the railroads actually open new transmission corridors and increase the supply and reliability of electricity from wind and solar? If the rest of the world is already electrifying their railroads, why isn't the US?

After three years of inquiry with experts and stakeholders, the Solutionary Rail team addresses these questions and more. The Solutionary Rail vision draws unlikely allies together. It provides common cause to workers, farmers, tribes, urban and rural communities via the tracks and corridors that connect them. Solutionary Rail invites railroads into a win-win partnership with We the People. Solutionary Rail charts a path forward to tackle interlocking economic, environmental, and social problems. Part action plan and part manifesto, this book launches a new people-powered campaign to transform the way we use trains and the corridors they travel through. So, echoing the conductor's call, "All aboard!"

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Solutionary Rail: A people-powered campaign to electrify America's railroads and open corridors to a clean energy future

Solutionary Rail: A people-powered campaign to electrify America's railroads and open corridors to a clean energy future

Solutionary Rail: A people-powered campaign to electrify America's railroads and open corridors to a clean energy future

Solutionary Rail: A people-powered campaign to electrify America's railroads and open corridors to a clean energy future

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Overview

Could railroads, the oldest form of mechanized mass transportation, be the key to unlocking solutions to some of the greatest challenges of the 21st century? Unique among modes of long-haul transport, rail can be electrified. So, why not power trains with renewable energy? Might a clean, modernized, higher-speed rail network draw freight and passengers off the highways and back onto the tracks? Could electrifying the railroads actually open new transmission corridors and increase the supply and reliability of electricity from wind and solar? If the rest of the world is already electrifying their railroads, why isn't the US?

After three years of inquiry with experts and stakeholders, the Solutionary Rail team addresses these questions and more. The Solutionary Rail vision draws unlikely allies together. It provides common cause to workers, farmers, tribes, urban and rural communities via the tracks and corridors that connect them. Solutionary Rail invites railroads into a win-win partnership with We the People. Solutionary Rail charts a path forward to tackle interlocking economic, environmental, and social problems. Part action plan and part manifesto, this book launches a new people-powered campaign to transform the way we use trains and the corridors they travel through. So, echoing the conductor's call, "All aboard!"


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780998096308
Publisher: Backbone Campaign
Publication date: 11/04/2016
Pages: 126
Product dimensions: 8.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.34(d)

Table of Contents

FOREWORD: A Genuinely New Idea by Bill McKibben

PREFACE: Rebuilding Rail to Meet the Challenges of the 21st Century

CHAPTER 1 - RAIL ELECTRIFICATION: A LIVE OPTION
The Solutionary Rail Strategy: An Overview
How the Northern Corridor Led the World in Rail Electrification
Electrified Rail Works Around the World

CHAPTER 2 - RAIL ELECTRIFICATION'S MANY ADVANTAGES
Rail's Efficiency Advantages
Running Rail on Renewable Electricity
Leveraging Rail Electrification to Grow Renewable Energy
Electrification Reduces Air Pollution and Highway Deaths

CHAPTER 3 - RESTORING A BALANCED TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM
How Highway Subsidies Tipped the Field Against Rail
How Trucks Are Driving the US Highway Funding Crisis
Attracting Freight to Rail Through Reinvestment
Restoring Passenger Rail
Investing in a Modernized, Electrified Rail Network

CHAPTER 4 - HOW TO MAKE SOLUTIONARY RAIL HAPPEN
Why is the US Lagging in Rail Electrification?
Building Public-Private Partnerships to Modernize Rail
Making Labor a Full Partner
Agriculture's Vital Interest in Rail Capacity
Right-of-Way Justice for Tribes
Jumpstarting Electrification in the Northern Corridor
Solutionary Rail Is People-Powered: How You Can Take Action

THE BACKBONE CAMPAIGN SOLUTIONARY RAIL TEAM

APPENDIX - LABOR STORIES

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ENDNOTES

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