The audio-only player above features a version of the discussion that has been edited for clarity and brevity. Watch the full, unedited video recording of the panel here:
Dear Friends,
Last week, Solutionary Rail welcomed a panel of environmental justice and labor organizers to discuss how we can shift U.S. rail from being a source of harm to an infrastructure that benefits us all.
Our friends at Pace e Bene were calling for Solutions Circles as part of this year’s Earth Week, and we were honored to collaborate by hosting such incredible guests.
Included in the panel were Andrea Vidaurre (People’s Collective for Environmental Justice), mark! Lopez (East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice), Tabitha Tripp (Public Rail Now), Ryan Calbreath (UE Green Locomotive program), and Jess Conard (Rail Watch), and myself.
Over the last few years, EJ and labor organizers have been deepening their bonds of solidarity and finding common cause in the fight to electrify our rail system. But electrification is not the only interest or benefit that a more accountable rail system would provide. Another goal is shifting our rail system toward delivering greater community safety and broader societal benefit by getting more trucks off the road, reconnecting service to rural communities, and hosting new transmission on rail corridors.
Working at the state and federal level, these allies and organizers are shaping policies and shifting the political calculus to overcome the profound power of the biggest (“Class 1”) railroads (BNSF, UP, CSX, NS, CN, and CPKC) whose management has been captured by extractive Wall Street forces.
This discussion is both a glimpse into our organizing work, the overlapping interests/reconnect america vision/concrete instantiation, and a preview of things to come in our Reconnect America podcast series
This conversation illustrates some of the key interlocking interests that define the Reconnect America vision and serves as a preview of things to come in our Reconnect America podcast series.
With Gratitude & Solidarity,
Bill Moyer
Reconnect America is hosted by Bill Moyer, co-author of the book Solutionary Rail: A People-powered Campaign to Electrify America’s Railroads and Open Corridors to a Clean Energy Future. Check out the essays and supplemental posts that complement this podcast HERE.
Learn more, get involved and pitch in to support the work of Solutionary Rail at SolutionaryRail.org. Keep the podcast ads-free and without paywalls by making a tax-deductible donation HERE.
