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Summary

Greater use of freight rail offers a

simple, inexpensive,

and

immediate

way

to meaningfully

reduce greenhouse gas emissions

without harming the economy. Because railroads are, onaverage, three or more times more fuel efficient than trucks, railroads have a smaller carbonfootprint. Moving freight by rail instead of truck reduces greenhouse gas emissions by two-thirds or more. According to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data, freight railroadsaccount for just 2.6 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from transportation-relatedsources and just 0.7 percent of emissions from all sources.

Moving More Freight By Rail Would Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

•

Transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions are directly related to fuel consumption.Because railroads are three or more times more fuel efficient than trucks,

moving freightby rail instead of truck reduces greenhouse gas emissions by two-thirds or more.

•

That’s why moving more freight by rail is an effective, straightforward way tomeaningfully reduce greenhouse gasemissions while providing other key public benefits.

•

If just 10 percent of long-haulfreight now moving by truck movedby rail instead, annual greenhousegas emissions would fall

by morethan

12 million tons

. That’sequivalent to taking

2 million carsoff the road

planting 280million trees

. Cumulativereductions through 2020 would bearound

200 million tons

•

Moving more freight by rail would also help

reduce highway congestion

, which costs$78 billion just in wasted travel time (4.2 billion hours) and wasted fuel (2.9 billiongallons). A train can take the freight equivalent of

280 or more

trucks off our highways.Railroads thus

enhance mobility

reduce the costs of maintaining existing roads

,and

reduce the pressure to build costly new roads

. That’s good for our peace of mindand for our pocketbooks.

•

America’s seven largest freight railroads have joined EPA’s “SmartWay Transport,” a voluntary partnership between freight transporters and the EPA that establishes

Freight Railroads Offer a Smart, Effective Way toReduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Association of American Railroads June 2009

025507510012515017520022520062008201020122014201620182020

Cumulative Reduction in GHG Emissions if 10% of Long-HaulFreight That Moves by Truck Moved By Rail Instead

(million tons)

For simplicity, data assume constant 110 ton-miles per gallon for trucks and 436 ton-miles per gallon forrail through 2020 and that GHG emissions consist solely of 22.4 pounds of CO2 per gallon of diesel.Based on truck movements more than 500 miles in length as forecast by AASHTO.

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incentives for fuel efficiency improvements and greenhouse gas reductions. As part of the partnership, each railroad has committed to working with the EPA to develop andimplement plans to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions in coming years.

•

Policymakers should take steps to attract more freight to railroads and expand thegreenhouse gas emissions benefits of rail transportation. For example, if

tax incentives

for projects that expand rail capacity were instituted and if more

public-private partnerships

for freight rail infrastructure projects were implemented, transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions would fall more quickly.

Freight Railroads Account For a Small Share of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions

•

According to EPA data, in 2006 totalU.S. greenhouse gas emissions were7,054 teragrams (trillion grams) of carbon dioxide equivalents. Non-transportation sources (power plants,industry, etc) accounted for 72percent of this total, with trans-portation accounting for theremaining 28 percent.

•

The 51.5 teragrams accounted for by railroads was just 0.7 percent of totalU.S. greenhouse gas emissions andjust 2.6 percent of transportation-related emissions.

% of% ofEconomic SectorTg CO2 Eq.TotalEconomic SectorTg CO2 Eq.Total

Electr. generation2,377.833.7%Trucking404.620.8%Residential344.84.9%

Freight Railroads51.5

2.6%Industry1,371.519.4%Waterborne Freight30.21.5%Agriculture533.67.6%Pipelines32.41.7%Transportation1,969.527.9%Aircraft157.48.1%Commercial394.65.6%Recreational Boats17.40.9%U.S. Territories62.40.9%Passenger Railroads6.40.3%Total7,054.2100.0%Pass. Cars & Light Duty Trucks1,236.963.5%Buses12.50.6%Data are in teragrams of CO2 equivalents.Total1,949.3100.0%Source: EPA,

Inventory of U.S.Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2006, Tables ES-7, A-100, and A-101.

Totals for "transportation" in the two tables do not match exactly because of estimation issues.