Category Archives: Environmental Issues

The Cost of Heavy Freight Trains

Posted on 2012/05/06 by

Over at Pennsylvania HSR, Samuel Walker reminds us that the dominance of coal for US freight traffic slows down passenger trains, and this has a social cost in addition to the direct costs of coal mining and burning. But another … Continue reading →

Posted in Environmental Issues, Freight, High-Speed Rail, Politics and Society, Regional Rail, Transportation | 83 Comments

Electrification and Carbon Emissions

Posted on 2011/10/25 by

Railvolution reports FTA numbers that say the average CO2 emissions of the New York City Subway are 0.17 pounds per passenger-mile (48 grams per passenger-km). That’s the equivalent of 114.6 passenger-mpg of gas, if you prefer to think in those … Continue reading →

Posted in Cars, Environmental Issues, Transportation, Urban Transit | 44 Comments

Carbon Costs May Be Far Higher Than Previously Thought

Posted on 2011/07/14 by

A pair of economists at Economics for Equity and the Environment (E3) have just released a study positing that the social cost of carbon is far higher than previous estimates, by up to an order of magnitude. The official estimate … Continue reading →

Posted in Environmental Issues, Good/Interesting Studies, Studies | 18 Comments

Yes, Transit is Green

Posted on 2011/05/12 by

I’ve just found a post by Brad Templeton arguing that US mass transit is less green than high-efficiency cars, at least when compared per passenger-km. (He agrees that transit is overall better because it is more efficient when used more … Continue reading →

Posted in Cars, Environmental Issues, Regional Rail, Transportation, Urban Transit | 19 Comments