You have to wonder if the Central Pacific would still be chiseling its way through Sierra granite if it had to contend with today’s environmental regulations when it began building the western segment of the transcontinental railroad back in 1863.
A case in point is BNSF Railway’s proposed 4,500-acre Barstow International Gateway project, which successfully navigated the two-year environmental review process only now to find itself caught up in the courts.
The $4 billion intermodal terminal, block-swap yard, and container transload facility planned for Barstow, Calif., passed the California environmental review. And in June it received unanimous support from the Barstow City Council…