It’s time for electric rail in Montana

by Cobey Williamson, Corvallis

What’s happening on the Eastside Highway right now is lunacy.

2021 is on track to be one of the warmest years on record, and the State of Montana Department of Transportation, in all its wisdom, is widening the Eastside Highway.

It’s not as though the highway was in disrepair. The surface is actually in great shape. It’s not particularly narrow, and there are no blind corners to speak of. One can easily drive the speed limit and then some. It’s never truly congested, even if you do happen to get stuck behind the occasional tractor or bale wagon.

So why exactly is the DOT investing all this energy into improving a perfectly good road? Because it’s what they’re familiar with, and they can’t imagine the alternative.

I know most people don’t want to hear this, but I’m going to say it anyway. The era of the automobile is over. It’s time to stop building roads. 

Instead, let’s establish an electric rail line between Missoula and Darby.

Before I get inundated with all the reasons why it can’t be done, let me point to why it must be. According to the Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions, transportation accounts for the largest portion of greenhouse gas emissions (source: EPA). Of those emissions, passenger vehicles account for well over half. That’s not considering the greenhouse gases emitted during the construction of those vehicles or the roads they drive on.

We live in an energy rich place. Despite the fact that we have the second-highest per capita energy consumption of any state, Montana is a net exporter of electricity (source: EIA). It stands to reason that our transportation sector should be electrified.

But electric cars and more pavement aren’t going to cut it. Rail is a much more efficient method of moving freight or people, and no more costly. In other words, any new road built in Montana needs to be a railroad.

It’s a much better investment than widening the shoulders of the Eastside Highway.