It is an eye-opening statistic by any accounting:
Citing Port of Pittsburgh-provided data, the Post-Gazette reports that “A towboat pushing 15 barges can haul as much as 1,050 semi-trailer trucks, and moving that same amount of cargo by truck leads to a 1,000 percent increase in emissions.”
The factoid was included in a P-G story about the evergreen struggle to bring attention to, and secure federal funding for, the upkeep of this region’s (and that of the nation’s) critical locks and dams infrastructure.
And while that alone should be enough to end the repetitive song-and-dance routine needed on a regular basis to secure such funding, there are many other reasons America must keep its waterways infrastructure updated and in good working order.
Among them, keeping our waterways navigable and providing diversity in the cargo-transporting system that delivers goods, raw and otherwise, in a timely and economical fashion.
Of course, there is the flood-protection component. And even national security issues.
And as Jake Haulk, president-emeritus of the Allegheny Institute, reminds, “Maintaining the dams is also key to the recreational use of the rivers and for abundant stable water supply for municipalities and power plants.”
While Congress indeed has appropriated billions of dollars for Pittsburgh-area locks and dams over the past few years, it has been a constant fight to secure that funding.
And, lest the public forgets, tow boat and barge operators pay, and pay handsomely, for the privilege of using these locks and dams.
As the P-G notes, operators pay taxes on fuel that power tow boats to the tune of tens of millions of dollars annually going to the Inland Waterways Trust Fund.
Don’t look for any free riders here.
In fact, the economic impact of the industry locally can be measured in hundreds of thousands of jobs, direct and related, with more than $19 billion in personal income and $4 billion-plus in local and state tax revenue annually, officials say.
The need and efficacy of such funding has been demonstrated time and time again. And maintaining funding for our system of locks and dams is one of the soundest public policies there can be.
Colin McNickle is communications and marketing director at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy (cmcnickle@alleghenyinstitute.org).
