"The gov't that governs best, is that which governs least". A. Lincoln 'nuff said !
Personally I think Caterpillar bought EMD just for the large bore diesel engine technology. There's applications for those engines in equipment other than locomotives.
A re-hash. Considering the NO's (nitrious oxides) SO's (Sulfur oxides) and dirt, mostly carbon, still the biggest product of fossil fuel combustion is Carbon Dioxide. From a know-nothing, me, it would appear that we would release more Carbon Dioxide in the next hundred years than has ever been released since earths creation. IMO Everyone eventually has to ask themselves, what is that going to be like. IMO, It seems we struggle with details and don't see the big picture. I could be wrong and often. 
The thing is, nobody ever considers what the earth has done to itself over the course of history without destroying itself. Volcanos belch out SO MUCH pollution that they actually CAN change the weather and change it rapidly. (In 1816, it snowed in Indiana in July and pioneers starved to death because their crops were ruined, all caused by volcanic activity), and in the past, forest and grass fires went unchecked and could burn for weeks and months, releasing unbelievable amounts of pollution. Cows and methane? Do we all forget that for hundreds of years, MILLIONS of buffalo roamed the country, releasing the same methane the cattle herds do now? I'm all for cleaning up and caring for the planet, but we also must be realistic about what is practical and what is possible. I was born in 1967, and I KNOW that in many ways the world is cleaner than it was then. I remember Gary Indiana when the sky was orange and you could smell it before you could see it. I remember when most people just pitched garbage out their car windows or burnt it in a barrel behind their house. I remember when people didn't recycle ANYTHING, even scrap metals in many cases. I remember when cars would drive around belching black smoke like an ALCO diesel, and big rigs would blast streams of smoke six feet high out the stack. Now, if you can even SEE any exhaust out of a big rig diesel at operating temp, something is wrong with it. If we can make exhaust emissions 98% cleaner, do we bankrupt the industry chasing the other 2%? I think more of us see the big picture than you might realize, and some of are not moved by panic and talk of emminent doom. When I was in grade school, (mid 70's) they told us that our drinking water supply would be gone in 20 years and that we were heading for a new ice age. By the time we got to high school, (the 80's) they told us that the population would explode and there wouldn't be enough food, and by the time I got to college (late 80's) they told us that the oceans would be dead in 10 years and global warming would ruin everything in 30. I'm still waiting for even ONE of those dire predictions to come true......
Actually, several million years after earth's creation, the environment on this planet was largely carbon dioxide. Plants began to feed on it and give off their own pollution--oxygen. For the last million years the two have balanced each other in a form of symbiosis.
In the 1980s computer models showed that the emission of carbon dioxide and other pollutants from human activity would block the sun's rays and cause global cooling that would "destroy the planet." (Earth is going to survive--it is only life forms that have to change or die off in any case.) Temperatures, however, increased slightly over the following years. (An increase in fractions of degrees, unlike the huge spike in temperature around 1,000 AD that lasted about ten years.) Because temperatures were going up, the scientists looking for funding to protect us against global cooling changed the models to show global warming that will "destroy the planet." The term "global warming" has now been phased out in favor of "climate change" just in case the models are wrong once more.
MIT research has shown that the largest source of soot in urban environments comes from unburned meat--smoke from hamburger joints and steak houses. That is why we are putting catalytic converters on diesel engines. The best thing that can come from the hysteria is a move away from the old way of burning things to release stored energy and move to renewable sources of energy such as wind, solar, and water power. The second best thing is conservation and an increase in the efficiency of the devices we use.
The whole green weanie thing is driven by politics ! What is going on in Russia, China or anywhere in the third world to address this issue? Almost nothing ! Certainly nothing compared to what's going on here. Accident? No, by design. The weanies won't be happy til America is back to middle ages tech....and then they'll figure out something else that's wrong with us. This won't be easy to fix....the American people at large would have to be awakened to what's really going on here, and with the public educational system destroyed... it'll take a miracle ! We DO have the means to fix the real problem here, but the resolve is currently in the crapper !...Selah !
I don't see EMD going away, IMHO. Cat has tried to get into the locomotive market as a major player for some time. I don't think they would have made the investment in EMD just to watch it go away.
My thought is, they are learning from EMD's engine designs what it would take for their own engine designs to survive the rigors of life on the rails. Or, maybe applying their own technologies to the EMD 265 series engines to make it a viable competitor with GE. If four cycle diesel engines are the way to meet higher emission standards, I am sure that the people at EMD/Cat will make it happen. Also, consider that EMD and GE still made their 6000 HP models available to the overseas market (Australia and China if I remember correctly), So EMD may still be collecting valuable information on the 265H prime mover.
I believe they will deliver a product to the industry and continue to be competitive with GE.
Time tells all tales!
I visited the EMD facility in Muncie this morning & talked to some engineers & manager about working for them in 2016. I am not allowed to share all that I saw & was told but they are committed to staying in the locomotive business & they are actively working on a Tier IV compliant engine.
These are just my opinion,
Thanks,
Naveen Rajan
