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Railway cars crowd the CN Rail freight depot in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada on Aug. 19, 2024.
Blame Canada! Rail strike impact will ripple across North America
Canada’s two largest rail companies have halted rail shipments after failing to reach an agreement with the union representing their employees.
Canadian Pacific Kansas City and Canadian Railway had until midnight last night to find common ground on a new labor contract with Teamsters Canada, which is seeking better safety guarantees for its members. Both of Canada's major railways locked out 9,300 workers after they failed to agree on a new contract.
The two companies have a virtual monopoly over Canada’s rail network, which moves goods worth $280 billion annually. Fertilizers, grains, and coal are particularly vulnerable to the rail stoppage. Canada’s fertilizer industry alone, for example, stands to lose $50 million a day amid the strike.
Impact on the US. Truckers carry most goods across the border, and they’ve already jacked up fees ahead of increased demand. But rail carries about $100 billion annually between the two countries. US rail giant Union Pacific warned that a Canadian strike would be “devastating.” The auto industry is particularly worried: Canadian trains move components for at least a dozen US plants and 90% of those in Mexico.
What happens next? The minority Liberal government of PM Justin Trudeau has so far been reluctant to force the sides into an agreement or to require the Teamsters to go back to work. In part, that reflects pressure from his left-wing coalition partners, the New Democratic Party. But now that the rails are idle, he may come under more pressure to act.
- Second annual US-Canada Summit focuses on security and trade ›
- Political fortunes, job futures, and billions hang in the balance amid labor unrest ›
- Hard Numbers: Mpox hits the 6ix, Canadian rail strike looms, sexual assaults in the US military go undercounted, J&J looks to close out talcum powder suit, the problem with city birds ›
Who's responsible for the East Palestine train disaster?
It's been nearly four months since a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, OH, setting off a public health crisis and sparking uncertainty and fear amongst the residents of this Ohio town. While the national news crews may have moved on, US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg insists that the United States government has not. "This is something we need sustained attention on" Buttigieg tells Bremmer in a wide-ranging interview for GZERO World. "Years from now, you could see health effects."
But who, ultimately, is responsible for the disaster? "Norfolk Southern," Buttigieg argues, "has to be accountable for the short-term and long-term consequences of their derailment."
Watch the full episode of GZERO world: The road to repair: Pete Buttigieg & crumbling US infrastructure
Ian Explains: Will US infrastructure finally be fixed?
At 6:05pm on a sweltering August evening in 2007, rush hour traffic was crawling across Minneapolis’ I-35 bridge. Then, the bridge began to shake.
Thirteen people died and 140 more were injured when Minnesota’s third-busiest bridge collapsed, plunging vehicles ten stories down into the rushing Mississippi river and leaving one school bus with 63 children teetering against a guardrail. An NTSB investigation later attributed the collapse to 300 tons of construction materials that had been placed on a 40-year-old design flaw in the bridge’s original construction. But while the flaw had gone undetected for decades, inspectors HAD rated the bridge in poor condition for 17 straight years.
The truth is that bridges in America fall down all the time, Ian Bremmer explains on GZERO World.
In fact, since the 2007 Minneapolis disaster, at least 21 US bridges have partially or entirely collapsed. A 2022 report found that 43,000 US bridges are QUOTE “structurally deficient.” The report also found that those same bridges are crossed 168 million times a day. At the current rate, it would take 30 years to fix all of the country’s structurally deficient bridges. Do you feel lucky?
Globally, of course, the number of faulty bridges is much higher, but at least here in the United States, things may be starting to change. On November 6, 2021, Congress passed the Biden administration’s $1.2 trillion dollar infrastructure bill, which includes $550 billion dollars for America’s roads, bridges, mass transit, rail, airports, and ports.
Secretary Pete Buttigieg has called it QUOTE "the single largest dedicated bridge investment since the construction of the Interstate highway system." But as we all know, allocating the money is only half the battle. Making sure it’s spent correctly is where the...rubber meets the road.
Watch the full episode of GZERO world: The road to repair: Pete Buttigieg & crumbling US infrastructure
The road to repair: Pete Buttigieg & crumbling US infrastructure
There's no sugarcoating it. America needs work. Not just when it comes to the state of democracy, either. A 2022 report found that 43,000 US bridges are “structurally deficient.” The report also found that those same bridges are crossed 168 million times a day. At the current rate, it would take 30 years to fix all of the country’s structurally deficient bridges. Do you feel lucky?
It's not a question Americans particularly want to ask themselves on every morning commute or summer road trip. The richest country in the history of the world should be able to keep its infrastructure updated and its roads intact. Globally, of course, the number of faulty bridges is much higher, but at least here in the United States, things may be starting to change. On November 6, 2021, Congress passed the Biden administration’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, which includes $550 billion for America’s roads, bridges, mass transit, rail, airports, and ports. On GZERO World, Secretary Pete Buttigieg discusses what he has called "the single largest dedicated bridge investment since the construction of the Interstate highway system."
As we all know, allocating the money is only half the battle. Ensuring it’s spent correctly is where the...rubber meets the road. In a wide-ranging interview with Ian Bremmer, Secretary Buttigieg addresses pressing news, from the debt ceiling showdown in DC to the latest revelations following February's East Palestine train derailment. They also look big-picture at US infrastructure's role in foreign policy and where China's global aspirations clash with America's manufacturing concerns. Oh, and they talk 2024, of course, and about why the Secretary recently changed his permanent address from Indiana to that swing state, Michigan.
- Hard Numbers: Southwest Airlines facing fines, Ukrainian casualties, Ethiopia-Tigray flights, Iranians facing execution ›
- Podcast: Rebuilding American infrastructure with Pete Buttigieg ›
- Electric vehicle wars ›
- Biden: We must ‘finish the job’ of repairing US economy ›
- Episode 1: What infrastructure spending means for you ›
- Ian Explains: Will US infrastructure finally be fixed? - GZERO Media ›
- Pete Buttigieg's lessons learned about parental leave - GZERO Media ›
- Who's responsible for the East Palestine train disaster? - GZERO Media ›
- US summer travel may be easier than you think, says Pete Buttigieg - GZERO Media ›
Podcast: Rebuilding American infrastructure with Pete Buttigieg
Listen: In this episode of the GZERO World podcast, we’re bridging America’s divides, and we mean that literally. It’s infrastructure week on GZERO World, and Ian Bremmer is talking to Mr. Infrastructure himself: US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. They discuss the state of America’s roads, bridges, and tunnels, as well as the landmark legislation meant to upgrade them all. They also talk about how major technological advances in electric vehicles and industrial shipping are poised to change the ways we move, and the things we ship. Oh, and they talk 2024 and why the Secretary recently changed his permanent address to that swing state, Michigan.
- Electric vehicle wars ›
- Pete Buttigieg explains: How the debt limit impacts transportation ›
- Can Biden’s IRA work IRL? ›
- Jennifer Granholm: On clean energy, US is "putting our money where our mouth is” ›
- Episode 1: What infrastructure spending means for you ›
- Ian Explains: Will US infrastructure finally be fixed? - GZERO Media ›
- Who's responsible for the East Palestine train disaster? - GZERO Media ›
- US summer travel may be easier than you think, says Pete Buttigieg - GZERO Media ›
- The road to repair: Pete Buttigieg & crumbling US infrastructure - GZERO Media ›
Pete Buttigieg explains: How the debt limit impacts transportation
Failure to raise the debt limit could be catastrophic for the US – and global – economy.
But a deal to lift the cap could also end up causing pain to many Americans. For example, the $4 trillion in spending cuts proposed by House Republicans would significantly disrupt US travel, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told Ian Bremmer on GZERO World. Republicans who voted to slash the budget should have to explain to the American people why they “might have to wait a couple more hours in a security line at an airport because of the cuts to TSA,” Buttigieg argues. "These are real impacts that are going to have a real effect on our everyday lives, not to mention on our economy."
Watch the interview in the upcoming episode of GZERO World, airing on US public television nationwide. Check local listings.
- Chris Christie weighs in on US debt limit fight ›
- US debt limit: default unlikely, dysfunction probable ›
- Ian Explains: The debt ceiling ›
- US debt ceiling looms over a House divided ›
- Let the debt ceiling battles begin ›
- Hard Numbers: Southwest Airlines facing fines, Ukrainian casualties, Ethiopia-Tigray flights, Iranians facing execution ›
- US debt default would be "destabilizing," says World Bank's David Malpass - GZERO Media ›
- Will the US default on its debt? Ask GZERO World's guests - GZERO Media ›
- Podcast: Rebuilding American infrastructure with Pete Buttigieg - GZERO Media ›
Students from the Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn., hold hands after getting off a bus to meet their parents at the reunification site following a mass shooting.
Hard Numbers: Nashville school shooting, Rohingya flee to Indonesia, Deutsche disruption, America’s tumbling tolerance, white-collar AI wipeout
6: Six people, including three young children and three adults, were killed on Monday at the Covenant School, a private Christian primary school in Nashville, Tenn. Audrey Hale, a former student, was identified as the shooter. The 28-year-old was shot and killed by police during the attack, the 130th mass shooting in the US this year.
184: That’s how many Rohingya refugees landed in Indonesia’s western Aceh province on Monday. Each year, asylum-seekers flee persecution in Myanmar by making the treacherous voyage through the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea to reach Muslim-majority Indonesia or Malaysia.
24: Transportation across Germany ground to a halt Monday in the country’s largest walkout in decades. Unions called a rare 24-hour strike to press for a double-digit rise wage hike amid soaring inflation — partly due to Germany kicking its Russian natural gas habit over the war in Ukraine.
58: So much for loving thy neighbor. A new Wall Street Journal-NORC poll finds that just 58% of Americans believe that tolerance for others is very important, down from 80% four years ago. People in the US now prioritize money more than patriotism and religion. Why? Experts cite the economy, COVID, and fractured politics.
300 million: Generative artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT — which can create human-like content — could put a whopping 300 million people out of work within a decade in big economies. According to Goldman Sachs, lawyers and administrative staff are the most at risk, and two-thirds of jobs in the US and Europe could be exposed to some form of automation.