Letter to Pete Buttigieg, Secretary of Transportation - Coal trains

Letter

Dear Secretary Buttigieg:

We write to express our concern that a consortium of coal interests are, according to public
reporting, pursuing a federal loan from your agency to finance their controversial scheme to
restore fright rail service on a dilapidated and functionally abandoned North Coast rail right of
way in order to export their Powder River basin coal to Asia. The North Coast Railroad gave up
on restoring freight service to this line many years ago because of cost and environmental
factors. The line has fallen into extreme disrepair. Geologic instability and slides have destroyed
long stretches of track. Indeed, because of landslides the ground that used to support many track
segments through the canyon is simply gone, leaving the tracks hanging in the air high above the
Eel River.

The right of way is in the process of being converted into something that can sustainably traverse
the fragile Eel River canyon: the Great Redwood Trail. Once completed, it will be the longest
continuous rail-banked trail in America. But just as the Surface Transportation Board was
considering the North Coast Railroad Authority's application for abandonment and motion for
exemption from the Offer of Financial Assistance process, a shadowy LLC registered as "North
Coast Railroad Co." emerged to oppose the request. This entity, which did not disclose its
identity or its source of financing, represented to the STB that it planned to provide an Offer of
Financial Assistance to take over the line and that it had sufficient funding to restore the line and
resume freight rail service.

Thanks to investigative reporting by the Salt Lake Tribune, we now have a much clearer picture
of this scheme. Moreover, internal memos discuss a plan to pursue a $1 billion loan from the
U.S. Department of the Transportation's Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing
program to finance their proposal.

We cannot imagine that your Department of Transportation, with your strong commitment to
climate protection and a bold transition to clean energy, would provide financial support for a
coal export project that directly undermines the Biden administration's climate and clean energy
agenda. Nevertheless, we want to make it very clear: we strongly oppose federal funding for this
project and urge you to personally ensure that it receives no federal support, including any loans
from the department's Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing program.

Finally, to the extent that the department is even considering any loan or grant funding request
for this disastrous project, we respectfully request that you notify us immediately so that we can
discuss the matter more fully.

Thank you for your leadership.

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