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

by Bill Moyer, Patrick Mazza, J Craig Thorpe (Illustrator)

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

Editorial Reviews

"Rail electrification, as proposed in this remarkable book, is that rarest of things: a genuinely new idea." Bill McKibben, climate activist, author and co-founder of 350.org "Don't miss this provocative book! The time is now for big picture..." Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director, Food & Water Watch, author of Frackopoly and Foodopoly "Solutionary Rail provides something tangible for all stakeholders to consider and to build on." Mike Elliott, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen "Electrification is not only our best option for passenger rail travel but also for freight rail." Denis Hayes, President, Bullitt Foundation; principal national organizer of the first Earth Day in 1970 "Solutionary Rail taps into that spiritual challenge to change course and returns with a transformative vision for redeeming railroads and a society addicted to their dangerous cargo. Indigenous and non-indigenous rural communities can be part of this solution by powering these trains and their communities with renewable energy, and transmitting the surplus to the cities." Tom Goldtooth, Executive Director, Indigenous Environmental Network, www.ienearth.org, www.indigenousrising.org "A brilliant solution to our simultaneous need to cut carbon emissions and improve our transportation infrastructure. Brilliant!" Thom Hartmann, author, radio and television journalist "This book is a must read for anyone who works for a railroad, wants to work for a railroad, or wants to come to a better understanding on how transportation can be restructured to fill the needs of a planet killing itself on fossil fuels." Jeff Kurtz, Retired 41-year locomotive engineer with BNSF. and Iowa State Legislative Board Chairman ( 2004-2014 )with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen "Well reasoned and comprehensively documented - this book will jumpstart an energy transformation in the United States that has already been demonstrated as a success in other countries." Ralph Nader, author, consumer protection, environmental and democracy champion and former independent and Green Party presidential candidate "Solutionary Rail has contributed a valuable next step in this fine work drawing together in one place a comprehensive statement of the benefits of electrification and the Steel Interstate." David Foster, Executive Director, RAIL Solution "We need to move beyond gloom and doom to holistic solutions. America desperately needs a new transportation system, as well as a regenerative food, farming, energy, and political system. Part of the transformation is outlined in this visionary new book, Solutionary Rail. All aboard!" Ronnie Cummins, Director, Organic Consumers Association "Solutionary Rail will catalyze an economic renaissance in rural communities along the line. What an elegant solution. Read this book and get inspired to create a more sustainable future!" Luther Propst, Founder, Sonoran Institute, board member, George B. Storer Foundation. "This new proposal might very well kindle a new fire in the public debate about our country's transportation and energy future." Roger Hickey, Co-Director, Campaign for America's Future

From the Publisher