New efforts to regulate rail are a mistake
Jonathan Bydlak
Video Embed
It’s not every day that railroads are at the center of the news cycle. But that’s now happened twice in the last year.
First, there was the railroad workers strike, which threatened to shut down all rail travel and freight at one of the busiest times of the year. Then, there was the massive train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, a man-made disaster in which more than 50 train cars went off the tracks, including 11 carrying toxic chemicals. The accident has reemerged in the news thanks to a public hearing by the National Transportation Safety Board.
DESPITE LEFT’S HYSTERIA, THE SUPREME COURT IS WORKING AS IT SHOULD
Since the incident, a handful of legislators, primarily from Ohio and Pennsylvania, have introduced legislation they say would prevent such accidents in the future. But there is scant evidence for this claim and many reasons to think it would only worsen our response to future emergencies.
As has been widely reported, the impact of the derailment was exacerbated by the questionable decision of state and local officials to undertake a controlled burn of spilled chemicals. Recent analyses suggest that the “vent and burn” may have been unnecessary.
Public fear also was stoked in the wake of the burn by many online, including Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), who, after being initially criticized for his detached response immediately after the accident, joined largely unfounded online rage by posting a video at a local creek claiming that chemicals had leached into area waterways. Vance’s warning to locals that they should only drink bottled water was criticized in many quarters as “irresponsible,” including by fellow Republicans.
More recently, Vance touted the Railway Safety Act during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Aging. He noted that there were “1,000 train derailments last year alone” and claimed that each represents a “potential East Palestine.” While Vance acknowledged that most derailments aren’t “nearly that bad,” he then proceeded to play up another derailment outside of Cleveland that “could have been incredibly catastrophic.”
The reality, though, is that transporting freight by rail is much safer than alternatives and continues to improve without federal involvement. As one recent analysis by Bloomberg shows, “safety has been improving for decades” and railway “hazmat accidents have reached an all-time low.” Unsurprisingly, Bloomberg’s editors have called for Vance’s legislation to be “scrapped.”
The publication is not alone in its opposition. The Wall Street Journal editorial board has voiced its disapproval, too, calling rail disasters “mercifully rare.” The editors also point out that new federal requirements on crew sizes would result in higher prices for consumers while doing little to prevent scenarios such as that which unfolded in Ohio.
Some Republicans, such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), also oppose the bill. Cruz recently noted that the bill would centralize power in Washington and “make it much easier for this administration to restrict the transport of coal, of oil, of natural gas.” And that’s to say nothing of the potential environmental impacts and other unintended consequences.
It’s a tale we see time and again with respect to emergencies: In their aftermath, the belief takes root that more federal action can prevent bad situations from occurring in the first place. But as we’ve seen from disasters ranging from the response to Hurricane Katrina to the two-decade quagmire in Afghanistan, evidence for this perspective is woefully limited.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
What is disappointing is that some Republicans, such as Vance, are helping to cheer on more federal action. It should come as little surprise that some of the most vocal cheerleading for “reform” is coming from usual suspects on the political Left. After all, as a recent Reason op-ed noted, rail unions stand to gain handsomely from the Railway Safety Act.
The reality, though, is that advances in technology are most responsible for the dramatic improvements in rail safety, and new technologies will continue to be key to future advancement. For this reason, Vance and his fellow Republicans would be wise to keep the feds out of the way as much as possible.
Jonathan Bydlak (@jbydlak) is the director of the Governance Program at the R Street Institute, a center-right think tank.