JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Feb. 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- CSX Corporation (NYSE: CSX) today announced that the company won a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 2013 Climate Leadership Award in the Goal Achievement category. The award recognizes CSX's 8 percent voluntary reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity since 2007.

"Reducing CSX's emissions intensity by enhancing fuel efficiency is important to CSX's mission and benefits our customers, employees, neighboring communities and investors," said Michael J. Ward, chairman, president and CEO. "CSX remains committed to driving further improvements for our environment, while at the same time moving the goods our country needs."

CSX was the first transportation company to become a Climate Leaders Program Partner in March 2007 and reached its voluntary 8 percent greenhouse gas emissions intensity goal in 2010, one year ahead of schedule. By meeting this goal, CSX reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 1.5 million metric tons - the equivalent of taking 296,000 cars off the road for one year, or consuming more than 3.5 million fewer barrels of oil. In 2012, the company announced a goal to further reduce GHG emissions intensity, committing to an additional 6 to 8 percent decrease by 2020.

Investment in employee training and new technology is the key driver of the company's continued emissions intensity improvement. CSX has invested more than $1.75 billion over the past decade in an array of training and fuel-saving locomotive technologies, which include:

• The Event Recorder Automated Download (ERAD), a highly sophisticated monitoring system that reads and interprets locomotive operations for training purposes including reducing fuel consumption by eliminating unnecessary power braking and engine revving;
• Idle-reduction technology that automatically starts and stops locomotive engines when not in use and in some cases provides auxiliary power to reduce the need to idle when a locomotive is not in motion; and
• New, more fuel efficient, line-of-road locomotives, as well as ultra-low emission GenSet switching locomotives. GenSet locomotives employ a set of smaller engines rather than a single large locomotive engine to scale power to demand more efficiently and reduce GHG emissions and diesel fuel consumption by up to 25 percent.

"I commend CSX for its exemplary commitment and dedication to tackling the challenge of climate change," said Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Air and Radiation. "CSX and all our Climate Leadership Award winners are reducing harmful carbon pollution, increasing efficiency and cutting waste at the same time."

The EPA co-sponsors the Climate Leadership Awards with The Climate Registry, the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, and the Association of Climate Change Officers. The Climate Leadership Awards build on the voluntary work that organizations pursue in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and publicly recognizes those efforts.