YES! We’ve seen a massive increase in oil train explosions.
77%
NO! That would lead to another argument in favor of pipelines.
23%
Comments
Thom's Blog Is On the Move
By webmaster
Hello All
Thom's blog in this space and moving to a new home.
Please follow us across to hartmannreport.com - this will be the only place going forward to read Thom's blog posts and articles.
Images of Thom
At Mondragon - both the mountain and the cooperative city - in Spain (written about in "Threshold" book)
Mueller's favorite place to pray (written about in "Prophet's Way"), and the roof of the room where the Last Supper is reputed to have happened.
From The Thom Hartmann Reader:
"With the ever-growing influence of corporate CEOs and their right-wing allies in all aspects of American life, Hartmann’s work is more relevant than ever. Throughout his career, Hartmann has spoken compellingly about the value of people-centered democracy and the challenges that millions of ordinary Americans face today as a result of a dogma dedicated to putting profit above all else. This collection is a rousing call for Americans to work together and put people first again."
From The Thom Hartmann Reader:
"Thom Hartmann is a creative thinker and committed small-d democrat. He has dealt with a wide range of topics throughout his life, and this book provides an excellent cross section. The Thom Hartmann Reader will make people both angry and motivated to act."
From The Thom Hartmann Reader:
"Thom Hartmann channels the best of the American Founders with voice and pen. His deep attachment to a democratic civil society is just the medicine America needs."
I have heard the argument that pipelines are safer than trains or trucks in transporting oil. We should not be transporting oil across the US at all. If we put our money and energy behind sustainable, safe energy there would be no need for pipelines or oil trains.
The RR commission and OSHA have been sitting on their hands for years and done nothing about enforcing upgrades to make RR freight transport safer. From reading the news articles, it appears these RR derailments are due to human error rather than accidental spontaneous combustion.
As for trains being safer than pipelines, I think the jury is out on that. Having lived in TX where there are huge pipe highways running throughout the state, I have seen houses blown up because of a ruptured pipeline mostly due to corrosion. We have seen that with PG&E's pipelines in CA.
The XL pipeline will be transporting highly corrosive tarsands bitumen which is essentially liquid tar to TX for refinement. The pipeline has a 1% undetected flow rate meaning 9000 barrels of oil can be leaking from their pipeline and no one would know about it until either the oil bubbles to the surface or it contaminates the groundwater (perhaps both events) making residents and livestock sick or even killing them before someone finally investigates.