BNSF Railway
‘Cap and trade’ bill a possible threat, BNSF says PDF Print E-mail
Written by Eric Timmons - The Register-Mail   
Friday, 02 October 2025 00:00
GALESBURG, Ill. — BNSF officials are worried about the effect a proposed cap and trade bill could have on the coal industry, one of the biggest parts of the railroad giant’s business.

Cap and trade would offer tax incentives to businesses that reduce the amount of greenhouse gases they produce. One way to do that would be to move away from using electricity produced by coal, still one of the cheapest ways of producing energy.

BNSF is Galesburg’s biggest employer and is vital to the local economy. It has performed better than some of its competitors during the economic downturn because only a small portion of its business is connected to the automotive industry, which has been battered by the recession.

The company’s biggest source of business is from the coal it ships to power stations around the country. Now BNSF is worried that a cap and trade bill could hurt that revenue stream. “We believe the net impact for us is a negative,” BNSF assistant vice president Paul Nowicki said at a rail forum in Galesburg last week. “All I can say is we are quite vulnerable right now.”
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BNSF: KC rail project good for the environment PDF Print E-mail
Written by Brad Cooper - Kansas City Star   
Friday, 11 September 2025 00:00
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — BNSF Railway today started to mount a public relations campaign against public comments that sugggest its proposed rail yard for Johnson County would make Kansas City's air pollution problems worse.

Here's a snippet of the letter sent today to PrimeBuzz as well as The Kansas City Star's editorial page.

"If the new intermodal facility is not built, overall air quality will suffer as new freight demand in a growing KC market would be forced to move to and from the area by truck alone.

"Rail is three times as fuel efficient as trucks and can help significantly reduce emissions compared to the all-truck alternative. That is why new intermodal facilities such as this are so important to develop. They can enable areas such as Kansas City to grow and become greener by harnessing both the environmental efficiencies of rail and the door-to-door flexibility of trucks."

Last week, PrimeBuzz report that air quality experts at the Mid-America Regional Council said emissions from the rail yard would worsen our already bad ozone problems.
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