06 Mar Railway Roundup – 2 – Explained: The Corruption of ESG on America’s Railways
Part Two in This Series:
Explained – The Corruption of ESG on America’s Railways
(Read Part One, Part Three, Part Four, and Part Five).
Author: Bryant Haines, President of 2ndVote Analytics
America has been the leader in industry and liberty for two hundred and fifty years, plus or minus a few years. We have invented the telephone, the assembly line, the light bulb, the automobile, and even the steam locomotive engine. And thanks to Al Gore – if you choose to believe that part – we even invented the Internet (Lord, forgive us for Facebook)! One would think nothing could stop us. We have been developing new processes, technologies, and ideas at ever increasing speeds. Provided we stay focused on the blessings of God, the value of liberty, and the drive to do good, nothing can stop the land of the free and the home of the brave. This train is rolling fast and heavy.
But there is a growing and concerning issue of multiple “hot axles” on this American train. The railroad industry, among others, has lost its focus on its mission. Let’s explore what the seven industrial Class 1 railroads are actually focusing their collective attention on while things go off track.
- Environmental Extremism. Railway companies are shifting their operations, maintenance, investing, purchasing, and hiring practices to enforce things like reducing the “carbon footprint”. Not that they actually will produce less carbon, but that their annual report will show how green friendly they are because they put more money into carbon tax funds. And if you happen to be in a business that supports the railroad industry in some way, you’ll probably be forced to re-write your plans around your supposed climate change impact, and then pay some consultant an exorbitant amount of money to assess your business for compliance. These railway companies, under the direction of groups like Blackrock, State Street, and Vanguard, are literally adopting the Paris Climate Accord into their operations plans.
To be clear, any red-blooded American business leader should want to take better care of the environment, reduce waste, put safety first, and use their resources as effectively and efficiently as possible. That’s just good environmental stewardship. But when you adopt the most extreme perspectives of the left that are presumably designed to change the global climate and at the cost of a functional enterprise – all while mostly accepting failure and paying a tax that also does no good for the environment, you are clearly off track and likely violating the interests of your investors, clients, and employees.
- Social Justice Confusion. Trains move coal, cars, wood, chemicals, and almost anything else you can think of when it comes to logistics and bulk transport. What doesn’t move trains – or make them more safe, efficient, effective, or profitable – is social justice programs. The S is ESG doesn’t stand for Social; stands for Stupid. What American corporation today promotes social inequality, racism, sexism, or gender confusion in the workplace? We would hope the answer in NONE, but that would be incorrect. Many of the companies controlled by Wall Street – and all seven of the Class 1 railroad companies in North America have adopted these hateful and unfair programs under the title of social justice.
History has proven that hiring and promoting people based on their race, religion, nationality, sexuality, or any other protected class is degrading and destructive – not to mention illegal and immoral. Yet somehow, Norfolk Southern, BNSF, Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, CSX, Kansas City Southern, and Union Pacific have all employed these hiring and promotion practices through their Human Resource departments under their ESG plans. The content of your and the quality of your performance are not relevant if you don’t advertise the right identity or apologize for not having one.
- Management Depravation. Under the guise of what they call Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) standards, North America’s railroad companies are restructuring and adjusting their boardrooms, C-suites, management teams, and corporate governance arounds DEI standards. Instead of ensuring the best strategic and operational leaders are in charge from engine to caboose, these supposed industry leaders have active programs in place to put people in executive and management roles based on their identity politics. They are redefining their business ethics, corporate philanthropy, and more around the Marxist divisions of governance.
Can you fathom going in for your annual performance evaluation after having a great year of success, only to be told that you will not be promoted or you are being passed over for a pay increase because you do not fit in the right diversity group? This is ESG equity. What intelligent and passionate leader chooses to stay at a company that takes a highly politicized, unproven, dictatorial approach to managing the business? None of those with whom we have spoken. The result is abandonment of trust, elimination of valid operational metrics, a lack of interested and available true leaders, and inclusion – if that’s the word they want to use – of people with no interest in the company in critical decision-making processes.
American author Bernard Malamud once said “If your train’s on the wrong track every station you come to is the wrong station.” Enforcing ESG in the North American railroad industry has put these seven railway companies on the wrong track and is rapidly reducing the likelihood of arriving at the right station. In light of the recent publicity around Norfolk Southern’s environmental disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, one has to ask if the company is truly interested in protecting the environment, promoting the communities in which it operates, or an authentic management team. Sure, there are others involved in this fiasco; from government agencies, to industry activists, to the slimy ESG giants that are investing in and taking over American industry, there is plenty of blame to share. Let’s hope a few true leaders in the railroad industry will rise up and stand for the things that made them and America great in the first place.
As a side note, the research and analytics team at 2ndVote is working on a detailed study of the seven Class 1 railway companies. We expect to share some of the specific actions they have taken to derail themselves and the country. If you have specific insight into these companies, the failures of ESG, and its decaying impact on employees and their families, partners, vendors, small investors, and others, we would love to hear from you. Please send us an email from your personal email account to trainwhisle@2ndvote.com.
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