Pipelines are safer than trains…/

On September 12, 2008, the conductor of a Metrolink train was distracted while texting on his phone, ran through a red signal in the LA suburb of Chatsworth, California, and sent his commuter train into a head-on colission with a Union Pacific freight train. His locomotive telescoped into the first passenger car and set both on fire. 25 people died, 46 were critically injured, and 85 were transported to the hospital for treatment. Understandably, someone in the Senate yelled out “there oughta be a law!”- the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 was passed a few days later.

The bill’s most expensive provision bill was a requirement that Class 1 railroads install Positive Train Control, an anti-collision technology that uses cellular phone technology and GPS. The PTC program nearly derailed in May 2013 when the FCC realized the railroads were installing new poles without licenses. Adding to the project’s complexity, Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act requires that Indian bands have the right to inspect proposed sites. The process could have added years to the project.

In October 2013 Bloomberg reported that Railroads and Indians Are Steamed at the FCC, but they shouldn’t have been, the real culprit was the 110th US Congress- their train safety bill conflicted was passed so hastily they neglected to realize it conflicted with another act of Congress. The Obama government was stuck between a rock and a locomotive. So, what to do?  Simple!  Admit that the FCC runs too slowly, create a $10 million slush fund, hook-up with billionaire-backed New Age NGOs, and dish out the money to the people who are supposed to be leading historic preservation efforts.

Continue reading