DM&E: How to Be a Crybaby 101

Vox Verax has covered the ongoing saga of the DM&E railroad's attempts to upgrade and expand its trackage in order to haul coal from Wyoming's Powder River Basin to power plants in the Midwest.

While the DM&E provides valuable services to farmers and rural areas in South Dakota, northern Iowa and Minnesota, we feel that the railroad's plans to haul coal through these areas is ill-conceived for a number of reasons that have been detailed over the last several years on this blog. Even more prominent today is the reality that coal as a fuel creates grave problems for the environment, and until carbon sequestration is a viable technology, numerous respected climatologists and scientists have said that no new coal-fired power plants should be built.

Today the DM&E is accusing the Rochester Coalition, which is largely funded by the Mayo Clinic, of illegally subverting its efforts to take land in Wyoming for its proposed expansion. Here is the story:

Canadian Pacific's DM&E alleges Minnesota group stirring up opposition to expansion

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The "Rochester Coalition" in Minnesota that is opposing a coal train expansion by Canadian Pacific's newly acquired DM&E railway has secretly instructed Wyoming landowners how to drag out efforts to acquire land, according to a motion filed by the railway.

In a civil action in federal court in Wyoming, the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad accuses the Rochester Coalition consultants of "co-ordinating efforts with a minority of the landowners along the railroad route ... to misrepresent DM&E's dealings with landowners generally," it states.

DM&E was acquired last fall for US$1.5 billion by Calgary-based Canadian Pacific Railway (TSX:CP), which is a major carrier of coal and other commodities. However, the deal still requires regulatory approvals.

The article is here. All we can say is: What happened to the good old-fashioned American ideals of free speech, friends helping friends, and when a bully is out to get ya, look for whatever help you can?