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Richard,

I agree with you that rail is the best way to move freight (especially bulk cargo) over land, although I still oppose subsidizing the railroad industry. The U.S. freight rail system blows the rest of the industrialized world's systems out of the water. The railroad industry has done quite well since being liberated from rigid price controls and from operating extremely inefficient passenger rail, and as a general rule of thumb, freight is best moved by rail and water and people are best moved by auto and air (of course, there are some major counterexamples).

Have you been following STB's Ex Parte 705 proceeding? A handful of shippers -- mainly western coal producers in the Powder River Basin, western and southern coal-fired power plants, agribusiness, and chemical companies led by DuPont -- are again trying to roll back the progress made over the last 30 years. A bill introduced by retiring Sen. Herb Kohl (S.49) would go even further backwards and remove the limited antitrust exemptions granted to the railroads (shielding from DOJ and FTC) and roll back previous STB rulings. Here are a couple of comment letters I've submitted to the STB in EP 705:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/52869993/Marc-Scribner-Railroad-Competition-Comment-Letter-EP-705-April-12

http://www.scribd.com/doc/56474918/Marc-Scribner-Railroad-Competition-Comment-Letter-EP-705-May-27

by Marc Scribner on Jul 8, 2011 11:10 am • link • report

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