Trains are a lifeline to American society because they haul goods and people all across the country. I am looking at the cost of these behemoths taking trips daily, and when I say cost I don't mean monetary cost. I am looking for what impact these trains have on our environment. Most of what I have found about trains and the environment is the effect on air quality. Trains burn massive amounts of fossil fuels every day and this has a huge impact on our air quality, People are working on alternative fuels and train engines have gotten much more efficient over the past years but for now they cause a significant effect on our air."People in society definitely want the benefits that come with trains transporting goods and people but are they willing to sacrifice the quality of the air they breath in order to have it?" file:///private/Network/Servers/BRHSFileserver.local/Volumes/data2/2011/asalucier/Desktop/Trains%20and%20the%20Environment.webloc
Also they are two other ways that trains can cause harmful effects on the environment. One is the noise pollution that they cause. People who have businesses near places that trains frequent often complain that the train makes people shy away from their stores. The other is laying new tracks, even though most train companies try to clear as little as possible they still destroy wildlife habitat in the process.
Asa I agree with you 100%. If I lived or worked next to a rail-road I would be angry at the amount of noise pollution the trains cause. What kind of fuel do they use now of days, if you don't mind me asking?
ReplyDeleteI personally do not think laying down tracks would be a good idea. Because like you said they would have to clear large areas of wildlife, but also would the cost be worth it? Also how much does it cost to lay down new tracks?
ReplyDeleteIt's true trains can cause problems, but can't the same be said about cars? If you live next to a highway your suffering from the noise pollution, and roads are typically much wider than train tracks (therefor taking more land from the plants and animals). Trains are one of the best ways of transportation because of there low impact. It would be much better to travel by trains with a lot of people in the train than in a car by yourself.
ReplyDeletehttp://planetgreen.discovery.com/tech-transport/eco-friendly-trains.html
the trains are causing alot of pollution in the air, but there is nothing any one can do about it. They will probably always produce that large amount of pollution because they have to burn coal to run the train. They can try to make the noise not so loud, but it will still be loud in one way or another
ReplyDeleteI think its good that new engines are being designed or what not to reduce the amount of fossil fuels burned. Do trains that burn fossil fuels only burn coal or are there other fossil fuels burned as well?
ReplyDeleteTrains seem to cause a lot of pollution, between the air, noise, and destruction of wildlife. Is there a cheap, more effective way to transport goods and people?
ReplyDeleteWe already spend enough money on unnecessary needs, why are we creating more train tracks when we already have them all around the world. It’s more money for us and like you said Asa we destroy wildlife habitats in the process. How long does this process usually take, in order to either expand a train track or even create a new train track?
ReplyDeleteAsa. with the massive production and use of cars and other forms of transportation. are trains still a widely used source of transportation? I would think that these more efficient modes of transportation are decreasing the production and use of trains. Therefore, isn't the problem of train pollution being dealt with because more "green" modes of transportation are being used and produced as the production and use of the train is slowly dying out?
ReplyDeleteTrains do carry transported goods and people across the country but why do we have to keep building more and more? You say that they try not to destroy much of the area that they are working on but they are actually putting more and more fossil fuels into the air that we breath. Do you know if they have found another source to run the train other than fossil fuel?
ReplyDeleteRob I agree with you on the "green" factor but i still think trains are a big deal Brunswick ME. just got a new train station that runs up the coast and down to mass. So i still think even with all the new cars trains are still going to be something to work on for the next couple years.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you 100%. The pollution that they make seems to be a lot. Along with how loud they are and destroying the environment when they put down new tracks.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Whitney to. Why don't they just use old tracks with new up to date trains? You would think this would be more effective and more "green" then laying down new tracks
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you Asa, that train's cause a huge array of pollution. Although this is true, many people use the train as a source of transportation. Is there any way to lower the noise pollution?
ReplyDeleteI think that trains are a great form of transportation, and the industry is still growing. They cause a lot of pollution, and they take up a lot of space, but they can transport a huge amount of goods very quickly. They are an efficient tool in travel and in business. It is important that we design a new method to get trains to become more fuel and cost efficient.
ReplyDeleteDoes the air pollution have any known affects on human health? Or is primarily greenhouse gas emissions?
ReplyDeleteWhy can car companies make more efficient engines but the train companies cant
ReplyDelete