First Hill Streetcar extension open house is today from 4-6pm at The Silver Cloud Hotel on Broadway and Madison Street.

You know what I can't understand? If interest rates are close to zero, then why are the interest rates on my federally-provided student loans 6.8%?

@1-4: No one thinks you are four different people. May as well just put whatever all that is in one comment no one is going to read.

@5: The worst part is, during the bailouts, the huge banks were only charged something like .001% percent interest, which is just free money. Businesses have more rights than people in this country, and more protections from the law.

In other hyper-local news, my car has a flat tire.

Er, that should be @6, rather than @5.

When your only friend, Russia, says you're finished, you'd better run or face a piano wire necklace. Instead al-Assad fires rockets at his people.

Awesome train video! Makes me remember how much I loved model trains as a kid.

@6 Do you really not know the answer? It's because you have a fixed guaranteed rate on a long-term loan. If interest rates go up to 14%, you'll continue to pay 6.8%. But I agree that it sucks. I'm paying one of those, too. High inflation and high interest rates favor those who have long-term debt at fixed rates. Right now, we have low inflation and low interest rates, but in two years things might be different.

Let's suppose a tarp cover for each of those coal cars costs $250.00. For a train of 50 coal cars that's 12.5K!
A lot of money, but they'll more than make that up in profits.
It's the cost of doing business, it would keep our environment cleaner, and the coal itself kept uncontaminated and free from rain or snow.

@14 Generally, I agree.

But, also add the cost of managing the tarps, the time to install, time to remove, store, inspect, maintain... .. unknown consequences like tarps getting jammed into other equipment causing damage or disastors... adhering to ever evolving tarp regulations from the state, the unions... and the precedent it sets for other states to adopt the same.

It will, overall, cost millions (my pulled-from-ass guess). And, while, yes, they could still make profits, and communities would fare better, it would mean that some overpaid executive's position, somewhere, could no longer exist.

Can't you think of the executives' children?

The real issue isn't the coal dust. Notice that you can't see any dust blowing off the coal cars in this video. The vast majority of that is lost within the first few miles of leaving the mine. The issue is how much will this tie up traffic at the waterfront.

It's no skin off my nose, seeing as I live in Denver these days, but Seattleites shouldn't feel the need to blow minor things out of proportion. (Not that that will stop anyone; there isn't much success in politics without making mountains out of anthills.)

I read somewhere that the objection to covers is that they would lead to dust build-up in the air within the car and could cause a dust explosion. That's not entirely implausible. Dust explosions are a real hazard in coal mines (and sugar or flour mills).

Whether there's really a significant risk of ignition from a spark within the car, I wouldn't be qualified to say. There is always going to be some contamination of the coal by harder rock, I think. Again, it seems at least plausible that that could strike a spark as the load shifts. That would only have to happen once to really suck

You'd certainly want to be very sure that some dipshit wasn't smoking as they removed the covers from the cars! If it's done by machine, that would all have to be non-sparking material and mechanisms.

@16: You have to make it an environmental issue to get Seattleites to care. Keep in mind that we're talking about people who think snarled traffic is *good* because it discourages driving. Saying "this will back up traffic" isn't going to get much of a reaction.

@6 if you had the collateral, getting another loan at the good interest rates to pay off at least part of the student loan would be a sound decision.

@6, @19: You're also allowed to consolidate into a new loan once, so if you haven't done so already, you might want to look into it...I consolidated back when interest rates were at 4.25%, which seemed like a good deal at the time. (And I'm still not complaining.)

Also keep in mind that 0% is the rate that the Fed has targeted for banks to make overnight loans to *each other*, the so-called federal funds rate. They're going to take on a few percent for a loan they make to someone else, because they have to make a profit. Also, when they give you a fixed rate loan, they're going to take into account the fact that rates will almost certainly go up in the future, and tack on a little to cover that risk.

@17 correct.

Which is why putting them in tunnels instead of on the surface is a good idea. Then only a few people die.

Hmm, why not use the Deep Bore Tunnel for coal trains? Then only the kids in the rich neighborhoods will die?