SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
bob casey
'Corporate Greed Is Out of Control': Warren Slams Kroger's AI Pricing Scheme
"Kroger is trying to pull a fast one on us by using digital price tags—a move that could let them use surge pricing for water or ice cream when it's hot out," said the senator.
Aug 09, 2024
Expressing doubt that a new artificial intelligence-powered "dynamic pricing" model used by the Kroger grocery chain is truly meant to "better the customer experience," Sens. Elizabeth Warren said Friday that the practice shows how "corporate greed is out of control."
Warren (D-Mass.) was joined by Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) on Wednesday in writing a letter to the chairman and CEO of the Kroger Company, Rodney McMullen, raising concerns about how the company's collaboration with AI company IntelligenceNode could result in both privacy violations and worsened inequality as customers are forced to pay more based on personal data Kroger gathers about them "to determine how much price hiking [they] can tolerate."
As the senators wrote, the chain first introduced dynamic pricing in 2018 and expanded to 500 of its nearly 3,000 stores last year. The company has partnered with Microsoft to develop an Electronic Shelving Label (ESL) system known as Enhanced Display for Grocery Environment (EDGE), using a digital tag to display prices in stores so that employees can change prices throughout the day with the click of a button.
As Warren said on social media on Friday, digital price tags allow stores to "use surge pricing for water or ice cream when it's hot out," or raise the price of turkeys just before Thanksgiving.
Through its work with IntelligenceNode and Microsoft, Kroger has gone beyond just changing prices based on the time of day or other environmental factors, and is seeking to tailor the cost of goods to individual shoppers.
As the senators explained:
The EDGE Shelf helps Kroger gather and exploit sensitive consumer data. Through a partnership with Microsoft, Kroger plans to place cameras at its digital displays, which will use facial recognition tools to determine the gender and age of a customer captured on camera and present them with personalized offers and advertisements on the EDGE Shelf. EDGE will allow Kroger to use customer data to build personalized profiles of each customer... quickly updating and displaying the customer’s maximum willingness to pay on the digital price tag—a corporate profiteering capability that would be impossible using a mere paper price tag.
"I am concerned about whether Kroger and Microsoft are adequately protecting consumers' data, and that as Kroger expands the personalized customer experience, customers will ultimately be offered a worse deal," wrote Warren and Casey.
The lawmakers noted that the high cost of groceries is a key concern for workers and families in the U.S., as chains adopt numerous methods to price-gouge customers including "shrinkflation" and "greedflation"—filling packages with less product and keeping prices high even though supply chain issues have largely resolved since inflation was at high during the coronavirus pandemic.
Kroger, which could soon increase its number of stores by several thousand with a potential $24.6 billion acquisition of Albertsons, had an operating budget of $3.1 billion last year, with gross profit margins above 20% over the last five years.
Meanwhile, said Warren and Casey, U.S. households spent an average of 11.2% of their budgets on food in 2023.
"The increased use of dynamic pricing will drive company profits higher—leaving consumers with the bill," wrote the senators. "It is outrageous that, as families continue to struggle to pay to put food on the table, grocery giants like Kroger continue to roll out surge pricing and other corporate profiteering schemes."
Warren and Casey demanded the McMullen provide information about its use of ESL platforms including EDGE, asking how the company establishes prices using dynamic pricing and whether it has ever used EDGE to change the price of an item more than once in a day, among other questions.
The senators have previously introduced legislation to prevent shrinkflation, urged the Biden administration to use its executive authority to lower food prices, and proposed a bill to prohibit price gouging by empowering states and the Federal Trade Commission to enforce a federal ban.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Corporate Profiteering Schemes That Drive Inflation Detailed at Senate Hearing
"At every turn, companies are cutting corners on the path to record profits, and American consumers are paying the price," one expert testified.
May 02, 2024
Progressive policy experts took aim at corporate greed and profiteering during a Thursday U.S. Senate hearing on "shrinkflation," the process of reducing the size or quantity of a product while selling it at the same price.
At the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs hearing—entitled "Higher Prices: How Shrinkflation and Technology Can Impact Consumers' Finances"—Chair Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) began by acknowledging that "prices today are far too high, and families are having a harder time finding a fair price, seeing more of their paycheck vanish into thin air."
"All of this is happening while corporate profits hit record highs," the senator continued. "Let's be clear: The fact that prices and corporate profits are going up at the same time is no coincidence. A study by the Kansas City Fed found that corporate profits drove half of the price increases in 2021."
Bilal Baydoun, director of policy and research at the Groundwork Collaborative, testified that "in America today, a fair price, let alone a sweet deal, is harder and harder to come by. In the age of corporate concentration and high-powered algorithms, pricing is in the midst of a troubling transformation, and the price tag as we know it may become a relic of the past."
"At every turn, companies are cutting corners on the path to record profits, and American consumers are paying the price," he continued. "In a practice known as 'shrinkflation,' companies discreetly reduce the size or volume of common household items—everything from jars of peanut butter to bars of soap—to charge consumers more for less."
"For some essential goods like household paper towels, shrinkflation accounted for roughly 10% of the price increase consumers experienced over the last four years," Baydoun added. "Indeed, big profits increasingly come in smaller packages."
Accountable.US president Caroline Ciccone and other executive members of the group submitted a statement for the record asserting that "the American people are fed up with corporate greed and price gouging."
The statement continues:
Even as inflation has gone down, prices remain too high. Americans understand that corporate greed is a major driver of costs that make it difficult for their families to make ends meet.
Corporate profits have exploded since 2020, and a recent study by our partners at the Groundwork Collaborative found that for much of 2023, corporate profits drove 53% of inflation. Comparatively, over the 40 years before the pandemic, profits drove just 11% of price growth. In the final three months of 2023, corporate profits reached an all-time high of $2.8 trillion, according to Commerce Department data.
"From Big Food to corporate landlords to Big Pharma, CEOs across industries keep raising prices despite bragging of bigger and bigger profits and stock rewards for wealthy investors," said Liz Zelnick, director of Accountable.US' Economic Security & Corporate Power program. "These executives clearly didn't need to raise prices so high, but they did it anyway because they could."
"Yet one by one," she added, "conservative Senate Banking Committee members today gave a free pass to their corporate megadonors and instead disingenuously blamed the Biden administration's actions against junk fees and price gouging that are actually working to lower costs for everyday families. They should get their priorities in check."
Earlier this year, Brown and Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) introduced a bill "to crack down on companies shrinking their products and raising their prices."
The Shrinkflation Prevention Act would:
- Direct the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to promulgate regulations to establish shrinkflation as an unfair or deceptive act or practice, prohibiting manufacturers from engaging in shrinkflation;
- Authorize the FTC to pursue civil actions against corporations who engage in shrinkflation; and
- Authorize state attorneys general to bring civil actions against corporations engaging in shrinkflation.
"We need members of Congress to grow spines and stand up to more of these corporate lobbyists," Brown said during Thursday's hearing. "We need our colleagues to join us in efforts like this, to lower prices and stop these tactics that distort the market, stifle competition, and make it harder for Americans to afford the cost of living."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Sierra Club Urges Dem Senators to Uphold Biden Clean Vehicle Standards
One campaigner from the green group decried the "dangerous attempt to roll back progress on climate, clean air, and cleaner cars" by some lawmakers skeptical of the new EPA rules.
Apr 11, 2024
The Sierra Club on Wednesday launched a multistate digital ad campaign aimed at persuading seven U.S. senators—six of them Democrats—to back the Biden administration's already weakened tailpipe pollution standards for passenger cars and light-duty trucks.
The new campaign targets Sens. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Kyrsten Sinema (I-Az.), Jon Tester (D-Mt.), and Mark Warner (D-Va.), who have been critical of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) recently finalized federal clean vehicle standards.
"The Sierra Club urges all senators to protect their constituents from toxic vehicle pollution and support these clean car standards that will save families money and give car buyers more choice," Will Anderson, the green group's deputy legislative director, said in a statement.
"The popular clean car standards are the latest commonsense action by the Environmental Protection Agency to tackle our nation's most polluting sector—transportation—and they work," Anderson added. "Trying to undo them is a dangerous attempt to roll back progress on climate, clean air, and cleaner cars that will benefit communities across the country."
Some of the ads are custom-tailored to individual lawmakers. Responding to Fetterman's recent criticism of the new EPA rules, one of the videos argues that "repealing this standard would harm Pennsylvania's growing clean energy economy, undermine efforts to clean up our air, and hurt children and seniors with asthma and other respiratory problems."
"We urge Sen. Fetterman to protect Pennsylvania families who will benefit from this lifesaving standard that will create jobs and give car buyers more options—not Big Polluters and their Republican allies who want to roll back climate progress," the video adds.
The EPA estimates that the new standards will prevent 1 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions and provide $13 billion in annualized net benefits for consumers and the climate. While some environmentalists have hailed the new rules as the strongest ever of their kind, others argue they don't go far enough.
Dan Becker, director of the Center for Biological Diversity's Safe Climate Transport Campaign, last month claimed that "the EPA caved to pressure from Big Auto, Big Oil, and car dealers and riddled the plan with loopholes big enough to drive a Ford F-150 through."
The new Sierra Club campaign launched the day after a federal appellate panel upheld the Biden administration's 2022 decision to preserve California's strict vehicle emission standards, which have been adopted by 17 states and the District of Columbia. California's mandate is more stringent than the new EPA standards, which set no quotas for zero-emission vehicle sales.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Casey, Fetterman Push Norfolk Southern to Join Close Call Reporting System
"After the East Palestine derailment, Norfolk Southern announced on March 2 that it would join the C3RS report system," they noted. "However, since your initial announcement, you have not followed through on this pledge."
Aug 18, 2023
Democratic U.S. Sens. Bob Casey and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania on Friday urged the CEO of Norfolk Southern to follow through on a promise to take part in a "near-miss" reporting system more than six months after one of the company's freight trains carrying hazardous materials derailed and burned in East Palestine, Ohio.
In a letter to Norfolk Southern president and CEO Alan Shaw, Casey and Fetterman praised the company for its "important first step toward taking accountability by agreeing to participate in the Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS)."
"After the East Palestine derailment, Norfolk Southern announced on March 2 that it would join the C3RS report system," the senators wrote. "However, since your initial announcement, you have not followed through on this pledge."
The senators continued:
C3RS is a promising program with real potential to improve rail safety, protect employees, and reduce incidents if adopted by a larger swath of the rail industry. C3RS acts as one unified database for reporting and, with NASA as an independent third-party administrator, ensures confidentiality and protects against retribution against employees who make reports. Ensuring that employees are not disciplined for reporting near-misses is key to making the program effective, as employees are more likely to report these incidents when they have a guarantee of anonymity and safety from retribution. In turn, addressing the near-misses reported through C3RS makes rail safer by preventing more serious catastrophes.
Casey and Fetterman noted that a recent Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Safety Culture Assessment of Norfolk Southern "paid particular attention to the railroad's engagement with employees and management on safety issues" and found that company employees and management "do not always work to foster mutual trust." One in three labor leaders interviewed by FRA and a similar ratio of workers surveyed said they were reluctant "to stop an unsafe action due to a fear of retaliation or disciplinary action."
"FRA reported that members of labor and Norfolk Southern leadership indicated that some employees may be hesitant to use their company's internal near-miss reporting system 'out of concern that the report could be traced back to the employee,'" the letter notes. "Allowing the railroads to punish employees who report safety concerns would not only harm rail workers who are simply doing the right thing, but also undermine the program and make rail less safe."
The senators asked Shaw four questions:
- Does Norfolk Southern still intend to join C3RS?
- Will Norfolk Southern commit to formally joining C3RS before the end of this year?
- Since the FRA Safety Culture Assessment was published, what actions has Norfolk Southern taken to assess internal safety culture, particularly around mutual trust between employees and leadership?
- Does Norfolk Southern have data or other evidence indicating that employees at their railroads are more likely than those at participating railroads to utilize the C3RS program to avoid discipline?
According to a New York Times article published last week, freight rail companies have been working with the FRA on an agreement to the terms of their participation in the C3RS program. Vincent G. Verna, a vice president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, told the paper that rail companies "do not want to relinquish their ability to discipline their employees who report something if they think there's a rule that has been violated."
Norfolk Southern told the USA Today Network on Friday that it is "making good progress toward operationalizing our membership" in C3RS.
"We met with FRA representatives in May to receive an initial briefing on the program, and with labor representatives this month to discuss the multiparty memorandum of understanding and the subsequent implementation of a pilot program," the company added.
Earlier this month, railroad workers marked the six-month anniversary of the East Palestine disaster by calling on Congress to pass comprehensive safety legislation to stop rail companies from "choosing Wall Street over Main Street."
"For years, workers have sounded the alarm about deadly safety conditions in the freight rail industry," the Transportation Trades Department (TTD) of the AFL-CIO, which represents 37 unions, said. "The industry's safety failures contribute to more than 1,000 freight train derailments a year."
Casey and Fetterman previously wrote Shaw demanding answers about Norfolk Southern's response and cleanup plans in the wake of the February 3 East Palestine derailment. The senators have also pressed the Environmental Protection Agency to hold Norfolk Southern accountable for releasing hazardous materials into the air and water.
The Pennsylvania senators also joined Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) in introducing the bipartisan Railway Safety Act of 2023, legislation that would impose limits on freight train lengths—which in some cases currently exceed three miles.
Amid the national focus on rail safety following the East Palestine disaster, workers, politicians, and safety advocates pointed to the railroad industry's profit-maximizing scheduling system that forces fewer workers to manage longer trains in less time. Unions and progressive lawmakers contend that this makes the nation's rail system more dangerous and contributes to derailments.
Some critics also noted that rail industry operatives spent more than a half-billion dollars lobbying against improved railroad safety rules at the federal and state levels over the past two decades, while others drew attention to the billions of dollars in stock buybacks and dividends issued by railroad companies—money advocates say would be better spent on ensuring better staffing and safety levels.
It's not just railroad companies. Occidental Petroleum, which manufactured the toxic chemicals released and burned after the East Palestine derailment, gave $2 million to the leading Senate Republican super PAC as proposed rail safety legislation stalled in Congress.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Senate Dems Revive Bill to Fix Nation's 'Broken' US Childcare System
"Just like investments in roads, bridges, and broadband, investments in childcare are critical for families and the success of our entire economy," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Jun 16, 2023
Stressing "the need to rebuild a stronger, more robust, and more equitable childcare system," progressive U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Elizabeth Warren on Thursday reintroduced a bill to improve access to quality, affordable childcare—one of multiple childcare bills unveiled in Congress in recent days.
The Building Childcare for a Better Future Act would increase mandatory childcare funding for the Childcare Entitlement to States (CCES) program by $6.45 billion to $10 billion per year and boosts the share of CCES funds that go to Native American tribes and U.S. territories. The bill would also appropriate $5 billion in annual CCES grant funding to improve the childcare "workforce, supply, quality, and access in areas of particular need."
"Emergency funding helped many providers stay afloat during the Covid-19 pandemic, but clearly long-term funding is urgently needed," a summary of the proposed legislation states. "This bill addresses the childcare gap by providing new, permanent funding so that states, tribes, and territories have the critical resources they need to develop a childcare infrastructure that better serves all families."
According to data released this week by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, U.S. childcare costs have soared 220% since 1990 to an average of over $10,000 in 2021. That's about 10% of a couple's average income or 35% of a single parent's earnings. Around 1 in 6 Black and Latino children ages 5 and under lived with a relative who had to quit, change, or turn down a job due to childcare issues in 2021, according to the report.
Wyden (D-Ore.), who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement that "the childcare system is the backbone of the American economy, allowing working parents to do their jobs and provide for their families. Yet, right now, so many families don't have access to affordable, quality childcare and are forced to make impossible decisions."
"America can and should do better by prioritizing investments to make childcare more available and strengthen its workforce with better pay and more training opportunities," he added. "An investment in a more equitable childcare system is an investment in working families and the American economy. We can't afford to wait."
Warren (D-Mass.) asserted that "just like investments in roads, bridges, and broadband, investments in childcare are critical for families and the success of our entire economy."
"I have long said that childcare is infrastructure and the Building Childcare for a Better Future Act will help secure a strong, long-lasting federal investment in childcare to raise wages for workers and ensure affordable and accessible childcare for all," she added.
"The Building Childcare for a Better Future Act will help secure a strong, long-lasting federal investment in childcare to raise wages for workers and ensure affordable and accessible childcare for all."
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)—who, along with Sens. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), co-sponsored the bill—said that "America's economy has roared back from the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic, but we're stymied by a broken childcare system that is keeping parents, especially moms, from joining the workforce."
"Our Building Childcare for a Better Future Act would strengthen our nation's childcare system by investing in permanent funding to better attract and retain top-notch early educators while lowering costs and increasing access for families," Whitehouse added.
The revived Building Childcare for a Better Future Act was unveiled a day after the bipartisan Expanding Childcare in Rural America (ECRA) Act of 2023 was introduced by Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Smith, Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), and several House lawmakers from both sides of the aisle.
The ECRA would direct the U.S. Department of Agriculture to "authorize and prioritize projects that address the availability, quality, and cost of childcare in agricultural and rural communities" through an array of programs and grants.
Earlier this year, Warren and other lawmakers introduced the Childcare for Every Community Act, under which around half of U.S. families would pay no more than $10 per day on childcare. According to May polling from Data for Progress, 4 in 5 U.S. voters support the measure.
Meanwhile, state legislatures have been moving in opposite directions on the childcare issue. For example, a Democrat-sponsored bill to boost quality, affordable childcare was passed by Maine's Senate this week, while Republicans in Ohio are seeking to strip hundreds of millions of dollars in childcare funding from the state's new two-year budget.
Last month, Sanders and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) warned in a report that the U.S. childcare system—already among the worst and least affordable across developed nations—could be "pushed closer to the brink of collapse" if Congress does not act before most of the $24 billion in emergency federal funding under the pandemic-era Childcare Stabilization Grant runs out on September 30.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Derailment Spree Proves Railway Regulations Urgently Needed, Say Union Members
"These companies siphon billions into share buybacks, dividends, and bonuses rather than into the vital maintenance and infrastructure growth we need to build a safe, modern, and thriving rail industry," said one worker.
Apr 03, 2023
After at least six major freight train derailments occurred across the United States over the past week, the need for stronger rail safety rules couldn't be clearer, an interunion alliance of rail workers said Monday.
"The recent uptick in derailments across the U.S. highlights the dire need for stricter regulations on the length and weight of trains, as well as a focus on preventing unsafe operational practices such as precision scheduled railroading (PSR) which prioritizes short-term financial gains for Wall Street over the safety of communities and railroad workers," Jason Doering, a locomotive engineer and general secretary of Railroad Workers United (RWU), said in a statement.
The past week "was not a good one" for the nation's Class 1 rail carriers, RWU observed.
On Sunday, March 26, a Canadian Pacific train carrying hazardous materials careened off the tracks outside Wyndmere, North Dakota, spilling liquid asphalt and ethylene glycol and releasing propylene vapor.
Last Monday, a Union Pacific iron ore train reached 118 miles per hour as it ran away down Cima Hill in the Mojave Desert before wrecking on a curve, destroying two locomotives and 55 cars in San Bernardino County, California.
On Wednesday, a Canadian National iron ore train derailed in Butler County, Pennsylvania.
On Thursday, a BNSF train carrying ethanol and corn syrup crashed near Raymond, Minnesota, causing a fire that forced local residents to flee.
On Friday, a Norfolk Southern train went off the tracks in Irondale, Alabama.
One day ago, a train operated by the Class 2 regional Montana Rail Link—soon to be owned by BNSF—derailed on the banks of the Clark Fork River in Paradise, Montana.
"The recent uptick in derailments across the U.S. highlights the dire need for stricter regulations on the length and weight of trains, as well as a focus on preventing unsafe operational practices such as precision scheduled railroading."
"Rail workers are not surprised to see the dramatic increase in rail incidents following the widespread cuts to the industry," said locomotive engineer and RWU steering committee member Paul Lindsey.
"Each year these companies siphon billions into share buybacks, dividends, and bonuses rather than into the vital maintenance and infrastructure growth we need to grow a safe, modern, and thriving rail industry," Lindsey added.
Norfolk Southern has become the poster child for freight industry greed as the toxic aftermath of February's fiery train derailment and ensuing chemical spill and burnoff continues to unfold in East Palestine, Ohio.
Questioned last month at a U.S. Senate hearing about the ongoing public health and environmental disaster, Norfolk Southern president and CEO Alan Shaw refused to commit to giving workers seven days of paid sick leave or halting stock buybacks.
More Perfect Union has calculated that payouts to Norfolk Southern's shareholders soared by more than 4,500% over the past 20 years, from $101 million in stock repurchases and dividend bumps in 2002 to $4.7 billion in 2022.
Shaw also refused to commit to ending PSR, the profit-maximizing scheduling system that forces fewer workers to manage longer trains in less time, even though unions and progressive lawmakers argue the Wall street-endorsed model makes the U.S. rail system more dangerous and contributes to the 1,500-plus derailments seen nationwide each year.
Although Norfolk Southern epitomizes how railroad executives prioritize profits above all else, the corporation is far from alone in pushing for deregulation and implementing anti-worker, pro-investor policies.
An OpenSecrets analysis published last month found that the rail industry spent more than $713 million lobbying against enhanced rail safety rules at the federal and state levels between 2002 and 2022. Top spenders include the Association of American Railroads trade group, CSX, Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, and BNSF's parent company Berkshire Hathaway, which is owned by billionaire Warren Buffett.
While RWU has made the case for nationalizing the railroads, it has also outlined a plan for reforms that can be quickly implemented in the absence of such a sweeping transformation. Specific provisions the alliance has called for include sufficient staffing; limits on train length and weight; adequate maintenance and inspections; and better training and employee benefits.
Last week, Sens. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) introduced the Railway Accountability Act, which includes some of the measures sought by RWU and is supported by unions including the Transport Workers of America (TWU), the National Conference of Firemen & Oilers (NCFO), and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers-Mechanical Division (SMART-MD).
Keep ReadingShow Less
In Fiery Shadow of New Train Disaster, Fetterman Leads Railway Accountability Act
"This bill will implement commonsense safety reforms, hold the big railway companies accountable, protect the workers who make these trains run, and help prevent future catastrophes," said the Pennsylvania Democrat.
Mar 30, 2023
As a train derailment and fire forced evacuations in Minnesota on Thursday, a trio of Democratic U.S. senators introduced another piece of legislation inspired by the ongoing public health and environmental disaster in and around East Palestine, Ohio.
The Railway Accountability Act—led by Sens. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio)—would build on the bipartisan Railway Safety Act introduced at the beginning of March by Brown and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) after a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials including vinyl chloride derailed in the small Ohio community on February 3.
While welcoming "greater federal oversight and a crackdown on railroads that seem all too willing to trade safety for higher profits," Eddie Hall, national president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), also warned just after the earlier bill was unveiled that "you can run a freight train through the loopholes."
The new bill is backed by unions including the Transport Workers of America (TWU), the National Conference of Firemen & Oilers (NCFO), and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers-Mechanical Division (SMART-MD).
"Communities like Darlington Township and East Palestine are too often forgotten and overlooked by leaders in Washington and executives at big companies like Norfolk Southern who only care about making their millions."
"It is an honor and a privilege to introduce my first piece of legislation, the Railway Accountability Act, following the derailment affecting East Palestine, Ohio, and Darlington Township, Pennsylvania," Fetterman said in a statement. "This bill will implement commonsense safety reforms, hold the big railway companies accountable, protect the workers who make these trains run, and help prevent future catastrophes that endanger communities near railway infrastructure."
Fetterman, who is expected to return to the Senate in mid-April after checking himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center last month to be treated for clinical depression, asserted that "working Pennsylvanians have more than enough to think about already—they should never have been put in this horrible situation."
"Communities like Darlington Township and East Palestine are too often forgotten and overlooked by leaders in Washington and executives at big companies like Norfolk Southern who only care about making their millions," he added. "That's why I'm proud to be working with my colleagues to stand up for these communities and make clear that we're doing everything we can to prevent a disaster like this from happening again."
As Fetterman's office summarized, the Railway Accountability Act would:
- Direct the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to examine the causes of and potential mitigation strategies for wheel-related derailments and mechanical defects, and publish potential regulations that would improve avoidance of these defects;
- Ensure that employees can safely inspect trains by prohibiting trains from being moved during brake inspections;
- Require that the mechanic that actually inspects a locomotive or rail car attests to its safety;
- Direct the FRA to review regulations relating to the operation of trains in switchyards, and direct railroads to update their plans submitted under the FRA's existing Risk Reduction Program (RRP) to incorporate considerations regarding switchyard practices;
- Require the FRA to make Class 1 railroad safety waivers public in one online location;
- Require railroads to ensure that communication checks between the front and end of a train do not fail, and that emergency brake signals reach the end of a train;
- Ensure Class 1 railroad participation in the confidential Close Call Reporting System by requiring all railroads that have paid the maximum civil penalty for a safety violation to join; and
- Ensure that railroads provide warning equipment (such as white disks, red flags, or whistles) to railroad watchmen and lookouts.
A preliminary report released in late February by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) suggests an overheated wheel bearing may have caused the disastrous derailment in Ohio. The initial findings added fuel to demands that federal lawmakers enact new rules for the rail industry.
"Rail lobbyists have fought for years to protect their profits at the expense of communities like East Palestine," Brown noted Thursday.
Casey stressed that "along with the Railway Safety Act, this bill will make freight rail safer and protect communities from preventable tragedies."
In addition to pushing those two bills, Brown, Casey, and Fetterman have responded to the East Palestine disaster by introducing the Assistance for Local Heroes During Train Crises Act and—along with other colleagues—writing to Norfolk Southern president and CEO Alan Shaw, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy, and U.S. Environmental Protection Administrator Michael Regan with various concerns and demands.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Senate Dems Elevate Farmers' Calls for Relief From Toxic Train Derailment
"The farmer shouldn't be penalized for this unfortunate and unique situation," said John Stock of the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association. "It's going to have an impact on these farms, and it's a reality that impacts all of us."
Mar 08, 2023
Just over a month after a Norfolk Southern train derailed in near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, a trio of U.S. senators on Wednesday wrote to a pair of Biden administration leaders that "we are hearing from farmers and agricultural producers who are concerned about the impacts of the derailment and associated release of hazardous materials on their livelihoods."
After train cars derailed and caught fire in East Palestine, Ohio on February 3, the rail giant conducted a controlled release of vinyl chloride to prevent an explosion. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on February 21 ordered Norfolk Southern to identify and clean up contaminated soil and water; facing local pressure, the EPA on Friday told the company to test for dioxins, while maintaining the position that based on agency testing, it is unlikely those toxic chemical compounds were released.
"Dioxins are some of the most potent carcinogens on Earth—there's no 'safe' dose for humans, and pregnant women and young children are especially vulnerable to their effects," Judith Enck, a former EPA regional administrator now on the Bennington College faculty and president of the group Beyond Plastics, noted in a New York Times opinion piece Wednesday. In addition to cancer, dioxins—which persist in the environment for long periods—are tied to developmental, reproductive, and immune system issues.
However, so far, despite fears of various pollutants, neither the EPA nor the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) "or any other federal or state agencies have provided clear guidance to either our agricultural producers in the region or consumers of those products," according to the letter from Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and John Fetterman (D-Pa.).
"As these farmers prepare for planting and marketing efforts, they are left wondering what impacts the derailment and chemical release will have on the safety of their products and the viability of their farms."
"The 2023 planting season is quickly approaching, followed by spring harvest of overwintered crops, such as alfalfa and winter wheat, that are typically sold as feed to dairies in the region," they wrote to EPA Administrator Michael Regan and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. "As these farmers prepare for planting and marketing efforts, they are left wondering what impacts the derailment and chemical release will have on the safety of their products and the viability of their farms."
"Producers are concerned not only over the lack information about the safety of their crops and livestock but also whether they will be able to market them due to market and consumer concerns about the safety of their products," the senators continued, noting that "farmers in the region are already reporting receiving requests to cancel orders due to these very concerns."
The lawmakers are calling on the EPA and USDA to work with state agricultural departments and academics to provide farmers with relief, including the rapid deployment of resources for "any necessary testing of their soils, plant tissue, and livestock and to interpret the results of those tests as they pertain to the safety and marketability of their crops and products."
Given that some consumers will likely be nervous about buying from the region regardless of test results, the senators are also requesting a review of disaster assistance that can be deployed as well as technical assistance for language to include in the next farm bill to expand aid for "producers who have been impacted by man-made disasters, including chemicals spills."
Alarm about the pontential impact on local farming as well as criticism of how Norfolk Southern and various government figures and agencies have handled the environmental and public health disaster have mounted since the derailment last month.
"I have a part ownership in a farm, so I'm concerned about that," Eloise Harmon, of East Palestine, told WHIO on Friday. "The soil at the farm: Can we plant? Can we not plant? Will anybody buy it, if we do plant?"
"We could, of course... probably go find some grass somewhere else, but why should we have to because of something that was not our fault?"
Rachel Wagoner—whose family's Tall Pines Farms in Darlington, Pennsylvania specializes in grass-fed beef and lamb—told WTEA in late February that "it feels like you don't have a lot of options, so you've just gotta deal with it."
"In farming, you're tied to the land," she said. "We could, of course... probably go find some grass somewhere else, but why should we have to because of something that was not our fault?"
Since the train derailed just a few miles away, the family has not had any issues with their animals. Wagoner said that "it's been fairly normal, which feels sort of weird for how everyone in the community is experiencing things."
However, Wagoner—like so many other farmers and other residents of the region—is worried about pollutants including dioxins. She also expressed frustration with the difficulty in accessing information, including about testing.
If soil testing reveals contaminants, "the door opens to another question," as Lancaster Farming pointed out Friday:
"What happens is these people can no longer make a living from that farm. Will these farms be bought out at a fair price?" asked John Stock, sustainable agriculture educator with the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association. "It would be great to have transparency with testing, but a lot of farms don't have a baseline for these contaminants."
If airborne contaminants are found in a soil test, Stock said it's unlikely the finding would jeopardize organic certification standards. The farmer didn't intentionally apply the contaminants, he said, and the occurrence was out of their control.
As for contaminated water used for irrigation, Stock said an affected farmer may have to change water sources or use filtration.
"The farmer shouldn't be penalized for this unfortunate and unique situation," Stock said. "It's going to have an impact on these farms, and it's a reality that impacts all of us."
Another issue is a lack of trust. Slate's Ellin Youse, who grew up not far from the derailment site, explained Tuesday that "so many people affected by this accident feel distrust toward the agencies in charge of dealing with the situation, toward the transportation companies responsible, and toward the national reporters who only seem to come around for close national elections and disasters, that it quickly felt almost impossible to communicate accurately."
After speaking with Jason Blinkiewicz, who owns a trucking company and repair shop just over a mile from where the train derailed, Grist's Eve Andrews wrote last week that "he, like most of his neighbors and employees, doesn't trust Norfolk Southern and assurances from the Environmental Protection Agency that the air and water have been safe to breathe and drink."
According to Andrews:
"It's normalized to some degree because there's already low air quality in the area," Blinkiewicz said. "The cracker plant is putting out volatile organic compounds, or what's the nuclear power plant doing, or how about the coal plant right behind it that they shut down not that long ago? What about the mills in Midland and the steel plant in Koppel?"
But all of those facilities are far enough from Blinkiewicz's home and workplace that he hasn't felt their impacts nearly as acutely as those of the derailment. "I think it's the first time, in my 46 years on this planet, in this area, that it gives you an uneasy feeling about everything," he said.
"And as much as it pains me to say, my trust has to lie in our government. Which is hard to do, right? But we have to rely on those government agencies to protect us. That's what they're there for."
The EPA administrator said Friday that "over the last few weeks, I've sat with East Palestine residents and community leaders in their homes, businesses, churches, and schools. I've heard their fears and concerns directly, and I've pledged that these experiences would inform EPA's ongoing response efforts."
"In response to concerns shared with me by residents, EPA will require Norfolk Southern to sample directly for dioxins under the agency's oversight and direct the company to conduct immediate cleanup if contaminants from the derailment are found at levels that jeopardize people's health," Regan continued. "This action builds on EPA's bipartisan efforts alongside our local, state, and federal partners to earn the trust of this community and ensure all residents have the reassurances they need to feel safe at home once again."
The EPA's statement added that the agency "will also continue sampling for 'indicator chemicals,' which based on test results to date, suggest a low probability for release of dioxin from this incident."
As The Washington Post reported:
Asked why EPA is delegating dioxin testing to Norfolk Southern, as opposed to conducting the sampling itself, agency officials said the railroad is required to submit its plans to the government and that EPA can modify them or step in and complete the work itself...
Railroad officials said in a statement Friday they are aware of EPA's directive on dioxin testing and "are committed to working with the agency to do what is right for the residents of East Palestine."
"We will continue to listen to the concerns of the community as restoration work moves forward," the statement continued.
It was not immediately clear how widely the railroad would be required to test for dioxins. EPA officials said more details would become available once the railroad submits its work plans.
In her piece for the Times, Enck argued that the EPA "should have ordered comprehensive testing the very day of the burn. It should have told residents, especially pregnant women and families with young children, not to return home until it was safe to do so. Instead, it timidly stood back, leaving local authorities, corporate interests, and rumors to fill the void."
Now, the EPA "needs to conduct comprehensive environmental testing for dioxins in and around East Palestine," wrote Enck, who was a regional director during the Obama administration. The agency also "needs to establish federally funded medical monitoring for everyone along the plume. Even those who appear healthy now should be offered baseline testing."
Additionally, she said, "for effective enforcement of our environmental laws, Congress needs to approve more funding for this crucial agency."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Ohio, Pennsylvania Senators Demand Federal Action Over Toxic Train Derailment
In letters to the EPA and NTSB, the lawmakers expressed concern about the safety of East Palestine residents, given the release of hazardous materials, as well as efforts to prevent future derailments.
Feb 15, 2023
As residents of East Palestine, Ohio prepared for a Wednesday night town hall meeting about the recent derailment of a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials, U.S. senators from the state and neighboring Pennsylvania called for federal action.
Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), and J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) sent letters to a pair of federal agencies sounding the alarm about the safety of East Palestine residents and communities at risk from future derailments.
In their letters to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair Jennifer Homendy, the senators wrote that "while we are grateful no injuries or fatalities resulted directly from the derailment, we are deeply concerned about the release of hazardous materials into the air and groundwater."
After noting that East Palestine residents had to leave the area due to the derailment, fire, and "controlled release" of vinyl chloride—just one of the hazardous materials the train was transporting—the senators said, "No American family should be forced to face the horror of fleeing their homes because hazardous materials have spilled or caught fire in their community."
While praising the EPA's initial response to the disaster, in coordination with state and local entities, the senators also asked the agency to keep monitoring the region, and to use its authority under federal law "to ensure that Norfolk Southern pays for the cleanup of these hazardous materials, as well as compensates residents and affected businesses as required."
"Norfolk Southern has a responsibility to these first responders and the workers that put their lives on the line to keep the community safe by fighting fires, going door to door to evacuate residents, and working on getting the derailed train, hazardous material, and contaminated water and soil removed from the immediate area," they wrote to Regan.
The senators also sent the EPA administrator a series of questions and requested a response by February 24.
In their letter to Homendy, the federal lawmakers lauded the work of the NTSB staff to "collect perishable evidence quickly from the site of the derailment" and provide updates about the initial stages of the agency's investigation into the incident.
"The NTSB's independent investigation to determine probable causes of the East Palestine derailment is critical to preventing future derailments involving hazardous materials in Ohio and Pennsylvania, as well as across the nation," the senators wrote. "We will use NTSB's findings and any pertinent safety recommendations to advance measures that Congress and the U.S. Department of Transportation [DOT] can implement to prevent derailments involving hazardous materials."
After stressing that "the NTSB must independently assess all factors and causes that may have contributed to this derailment," they shared concerns from constituents, experts, and railroad workers representatives about high-hazard flammable train definition and safety practices; axle, journal bearing, and railcar inspections; electronically controlled pneumatic brakes; staffing practices; and railcar and track maintenance.
The letter notes that the lawmakers don't expect the NTSB to respond to those concerns unless the probe "determines it appropriate" but asks the board to let them know if it has the budget and resources necessary to investigate and identify "trending factors and causes that may contribute to future derailments involving hazardous materials."
The NTSB letter also states that the senators "will be pressing the U.S. Department of Transportation to conduct new analysis and act to improve railroad safety practices and prevent derailments of trains carrying hazardous materials."
The Lever reported last Friday that despite the crisis in Ohio, "Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg's department has not moved to reinstate an Obama-era rail safety rule aimed at expanding the use of better braking technology."
Instead of reviving the rule repealed under former President Donald Trump, the news outlet explained, "transportation regulators have been considering a rail-industry-backed proposal that could weaken existing brake safety rules."
Jeff Hauser, executive director of the Revolving Door Project, said Tuesday that "now, all eyes are on Secretary Buttigieg."
"Buttigieg should call out the brake rule repeal for the horrendous decision it was, start working to implement a new rule, take Norfolk Southern to task, and push back on corporations deciding how the DOT regulates them," Hauser argued. "Anything short of that only signals to the railroads that this type of incident will be tolerated."
Keep ReadingShow Less
See More
Most Popular
To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.
News & Opinion
Trending
Common Dreams, Inc. Founded 1997. Registered 501(c3) Non-Profit
Privacy Policy