2014 Sustainability Report Norfolk Southern 2013 Sustainability Report Norfolk Southern 2014 Sustainability Report 2
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CONNECTIONS 2014 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT NORFOLK SOUTHERN 2013 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT NORFOLK SOUTHERN 2014 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2 INTRODUCTION IN THIS SECTION INTRODUCTION CEO LETTER CSO LETTER ABOUT OUR REPORT SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION 2013 SUSTAINABILITY HIGHLIGHTS 2013 AWARDS AND RECOGNITION Norfolk Southern’s Connections At Norfolk Southern, we believe in ties that bring us closer together: Wooden ties on tracks that span 20,000 miles, connecting us to ports, highways, and warehouses, and invisible ties that are just as strong, connecting us to communities, the land, and each other. Our business is intricately connected to jobs, economies, environmental benefi ts, and more effi cient delivery of goods. These connections create lasting, mutually benefi cial relationships with our communities, our employees, our customers, our environment, and our economy. As we seek out and create these connections, we use every tool within reach to hone and improve operations all along the Norfolk Southern line. As a result, we do business in innovative ways that are more effi cient, less resource-intensive, and sustainable now and for generations to come. Ultimately, everything we do is connected. What sustains us as a company is what sustains us as a people, an economy, and a planet. We’ll continue to do our part to create a better world, and show that Norfolk Southern is in it for the long haul. A SONG ABOUT CONNECTIONS Employees all across Norfolk Southern contribute to the company’s sustainability efforts. In 2013, the Norfolk Southern Lawmen, the railroad’s corporate band, made a musical contribution. The band’s song “Footprints” highlights our connections to the environment, the economy, and communities. The Lawmen are part of the railroad’s community outreach and also perform at company functions. INTRODUCTION NORFOLK SOUTHERN 2014 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 3 Esi Waters: Sustainability is Her Mission Esi Waters joined Norfolk Southern in September 2013 as manager of corporate sustainability. In her previous job, Waters worked in the green building industry— she is a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-accredited professional specializing in existing buildings. While Waters knew little about railroads initially, the more she learned, the more she liked the environmental benefi ts of freight rail and the company’s efforts to be a responsible corporate citizen. “I never anticipated working for a railroad. I just knew I wanted to work for an organization whose core business was in keeping with the environment,” said Waters, who holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in environmental science and management from Duke University. Waters grew up in Maryland and learned early the importance of environmental stewardship through lessons in school about the Chesapeake Bay. “I like it that Norfolk Southern is trying to operate in a sustainable way and is putting its money where its mouth is.” One of Waters’ key roles is serving as an internal resource to expand sustainability efforts across the company. She has worked with NS business marketing groups to engage customers in how Norfolk Southern trains can help them reduce their supply-chain carbon footprint as compared with shipping by truck. She also has met with NS purchasing employees to discuss the sustainable business practices of our supply vendors. In another instance, she helped the assistant superintendent of our Toledo, Ohio, terminal identify benefi ts of replacing dot-matrix printers with more effi cient laser printers. Another important part of her job, Waters said, is engaging employees to contribute to the company’s sustainability efforts. “I don’t necessarily know the best way to implement a recycling program at one of our locomotive shops, but the employees there will know what would work,” she said. “I really get excited when I get emails from employees who are doing things to support sustainability.” Waters also reaches out to external stakeholders. Those include nonprofi ts and conservation groups that Norfolk Southern might partner with on community projects, such as our proposed “living shoreline” on the Elizabeth River at our Lamberts Point coal pier in Norfolk, Va. In addition, she coordinates the company’s voluntary reporting of details about our corporate sustainability program to groups such as CDP and the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. One of her primary goals is to help people understand the role that freight rail plays in today’s economy and in reducing greenhouse gases from U.S. transportation sources. “Trains are almost this invisible backbone that holds the economy together,” she said. “They get things to the places where they need to be. It’s so cool to be part of an industry that touches so many other industries.” INTRODUCTION NORFOLK SOUTHERN 2014 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 4 CEO LETTER Since the 1830s, Norfolk Southern has been an integral part of the American transportation landscape. From our earliest beginnings, our commitment has always been to deliver our customers’ freight safely, effi ciently, and economically, and in doing so to provide fair returns to our shareholders and a desirable workplace for employees. Today we understand that everything we do must respect the planet. We understand that everything we do is connected. And we understand that environmental sustainability is smart business. The 2014 Sustainability Report highlights our pursuit of better ways of doing business—ways that, whenever possible, benefi t the environment. This report explains how NS integrates sustainability into the fabric of the corporation. Wick Moorman, CEO, Norfolk Southern There is no getting around the fact that rail freight transportation requires the consumption of tremendous amounts of diesel fuel. Manufacturers are steadily improving locomotive effi ciency, but rather than just waiting for others to move ahead, NS is going beyond by developing our onboard technology, LEADER, to give engineers real-time feedback on how to operate trains with maximum 1 2 fuel effi ciency. By the end of 2013, LEADER was installed on more than 60 percent of our road fl eet, and it promises to deliver measurable progress toward reducing our carbon emissions. GRI G4 DISCLOSURES Recognizing that diesel or some fossil fuel is part of our foreseeable energy supply, NS has These disclosures extended its carbon mitigation strategy through the efforts of sustainability partners in order to from the 2014 report are minimize or offset our impacts. Through carbon sequestration and watershed protection, forest addressed on this page. habitats are important to the planet’s health, and they represent opportunities for NS to contribute toward a better environment. Leveraging experience with our Brosnan Forest conservation property, NS is participating with GreenTrees in planting hardwood forests on previously cleared land in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. The project is well ahead of its initial timetable to plant 6 million trees on 10,000 acres by 2016. We support the woodlands sustainability projects of other organizations as well, including The Longleaf Alliance, The Nature Conservancy of Virginia, and the American Chestnut Foundation. Collaboration with effective partners such as these helps sustain their work while supporting the economies and ecosystems of our rail service territory. NS shares sustainability ideas, because doing so augments and sharpens our own thinking. Working with host partner GE Transportation, we co-sponsored our third annual railroad sustainability symposium in 2013. Attendees from 25 companies offered insights on a range of topics, including natural gas as a fuel alternative. For our fourth symposium in 2014, we welcome a new host partner, BNSF, as sustainability grows in signifi cance across the rail industry. Additionally, as one of the fi rst INTRODUCTION NORFOLK SOUTHERN 2014 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 5 transportation companies to commit formally to sustainable business practices, we fi nd ourselves in a position to share our experiences with smaller domestic railroads and carriers from other countries, such as Australia and New Zealand. Norfolk Southern is proud of its long-term leadership in corporate responsibility and invites your review of the efforts outlined in this report. Wick Moorman Chairman and CEO A leader in railroad innovation CEO Wick Moorman began his railroad career as a co-op student in 1970 on the Southern Railway, a Norfolk Southern predecessor railroad whose motto was “Give a green light to innovation.” Since becoming Norfolk Southern’s CEO in 2005, Moorman has continued to promote that philosophy. In 2013, the rail industry trade magazine Progressive Railroading presented Moorman with its Railroad Innovator Award, which recognizes an individual’s outstanding achievement in the rail industry. In an October 2013 cover story announcing the award, the magazine’s editor, Pat Foran, had this to say about Moorman: “During his nearly eight-year run as chairman and CEO, Charles Wickliffe (Wick) Moorman has charted what’s shaping up to be a unique course for Norfolk Southern Railway. As constructively as any of his Class I counterparts, he’s embraced the link between technology, operating effi ciency and productivity. He’s leading the charge to inculcate a safety culture change at his railroad. And he continues to push the partnership envelope in strategic rail corridors, brightening the railroad’s intermodal future and paving the way for new opportunities along the way. “Ultimately, Moorman has prepared NS for what’s next, and that includes