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The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has followed in the Class Is' footsteps by developing an online carbon-emission calculator.

Accessible at www.aar.org/Environment/EconomicCalculator.aspx, the interactive calculator enables users to estimate the CO2 emission footprint of moving freight by rail rather than by truck.

One recent calculation shows 1,088 tons of CO2 would be eliminated by moving 100 cars of fresh and frozen food via rail from Washington, D.C., to Portland, Ore., the AAR said. The calculator estimates that it would take 25,323 tree seedlings 10 years to remove the same amount of carbon dioxide from the environment if the freight was moved by truck.

"Freight rail is the most energy efficient way to move goods," said AAR President and Chief Executive Officer Edward Hamberger in a prepared statement. "If just 10 percent of the long-distance freight that today moves by truck was shifted to rail, greenhouse gas emissions would decrease by 12 million tons."