Thursday, March 13, 2008 10:07 PM CDT
President of Coles Together supports freight rail expansion
By the JG/T-C
editorial@jg-tc.com
UPDATED: WASHINGTON — Angela Griffin, president of Coles Together, joined 30 others from around the country to talk with members of Congress about increasing the nation’s freight rail capacity.
The people are members of Go21, a national public interest organization advocating increased freight rail hauling capacity because of the benefits associated with shipping more freight by rail.
As president of Coles Together, Griffin is responsible for the overall management of the organization, whose purpose is to ensure the success of industrial projects in Coles County. She also serves as the administrator of the Coles Together Enterprise Zone and on the boards of the Coles County Community Development Corporation, the Eastern Illinois Railroad Company and the Illinois Development Council.
With a bachelor’s degree in economics and more than 17 years of economic development experience, Griffin is aware of the impact rail has on business and economic development efforts.
“By using rail to move freight, we are able to reduce truck traffic, thereby reducing the wear and tear and congestion on our highways and roads,” Griffin said.
But for Griffin, railroads play another vital role. There are two projects in Coles County that have significant national impact.
First, Coles Together, along with federal, state and local leaders, is working to bring the FutureGen cleaner coal power plant to Mattoon.
The coal would be brought to the plant using rail.
A second plant is planned in Oakland for a coal-to-liquids plant using gasified coal to produce synthetic diesel fuel and synthetic jet fuel. This project also will utilize rail.
“There is no getting around the fact that we need a strong rail infrastructure for our projects,” Griffin said. “One reason Mattoon and Charleston have been successful in their attraction and retention efforts is because of access to rail. We need railroad expansion to meet increasing demand, and it is in this county’s best interest to encourage the growth in rail.”
The Go21 members were in Washington to take part in “Railroad Day on the Hill,” an annual event in which representatives of the nation’s freight railroads and the railway supply industry visit with members of Congress to talk about issues critical to the health of the freight railroad industry.
The key issue this year is expansion of the nation’s rail freight capacity. With freight rail demand expected to almost double by 2035, a recent study found that $146 billion should be invested in expanding freight rail capacity.
One way to do that, advocates said, is for Congress to pass the Freight Rail Infrastructure Capacity Expansion Act (S1125 and HR 2116).
That legislation would provide a 25-percent tax credit for any business investing in new rail track, intermodal facilities, rail yards, locomotives or other rail infrastructure expansion projects. The legislation has been endorsed by rail customers including the National Mining Association, the American Association of Port Authorities, the National Retail Federation, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.
“It’s also important that Congress reject attempts to re-regulate the railroad industry,” said Edward R. Hamberger, president and CEO of the Association of American Railroads, one of the sponsors of Railroad Day. “The result of that would be to deprive railroads of the money needed to expand rail capacity to meet the increased demand from all rail shippers.”
In addition to Go21 and the AAR, other sponsors of Railroad Day on the Hill include the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association, the Railway Supply Institute, the Railway Tie Association and the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association.
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