Former Montana Public Service Commissioner John Driscoll blames BN for many of Montana s economic woes. BN s monopoly over rail traffic puts it in an extraordinarily powerful position in rail-dependent Montana. Here the company services 98 percent of all grain elevators. In Texas and Oklahoma, BN controls 90 percent of grain transportation. Cheating on public land Like the titans of numerous U.S. industries, BN is heavily subsidized by U.S. taxpayers, harms the environment and exploits its workers and small business.
Critics wonder why the company is given such free rein.
Like any successful business rogue, Burlington Northern is a major player in the game of Washington influence peddling. Burlington Resources has its own political action committee, as do several of its subsidiaries. BN s efforts are supplemented by the industry group Association of American Railroads, which gives generous donations at election time, and which is supported by Burlington Northern. Many people, however, are no longer buying this rhetoric. Don Driscoll, mayor of Havre, Montana, has seen his community devastated by BN job cuts.