re: #357 Fenway_Nation

Actually, I wasn’t even factoring in locomotive emissions into cap & trade. I think short-haul and reigonal railways will be decimated by this- especially the ones that either service coal mines and coal-fired power plants or some of our own domestic natural gas or oil deposits (the Bakken Oil field and Marcellus Shale in particular). Even if they don’t haul a drop of oil, they still haul vast quantities of pipe, ‘frac sand’ and rigging equipment for some of the energy exploration companies.

Or let’s say a shortline railway is already compliant with (or exempt from) the cap and trade impositions…but their main customer- a paper mill or factory is affected adversely. What happens to that railway when a good chunk of it’s business goes away when the factory it serves is shut down as a cost-cutting measure, relcoated overseas or shit down by the feds?

The future outlook in these sectors looks grim. I don’t see the administration playing anything but an antagonistic role with these industries. In fact the veracity of lawsuits that will come from Justice will probably increase over the next three years and possibly 7 years. Short of a lawsuit from said sectors I don’t see what can be done since the EPA is basically isolated from democratic rule.