The safety and well being of the people of so many communities across our country are in constant jeopardy due to these highly combustible oil trains which, in essence, are rolling bombs through our towns. We cannot allow profits to be put over people any longer. These trains are not properly equipped to transport crude oil, hence making them more prone to explosion. Many of these trains run past homes, schools, government buildings and over reservoirs which provide drinking water to millions of people.
There have been a number of derailments and explosions in the past few years with the most notable being in Lac Megantic, Canada in July of 2013 in which forty seven residents were vaporized and killed on impact. Many of these oil trains are left unattended which raises the possibility for terrorist attack in our nation. As these trains idle in communities day and night, they're responsible for unwanted noise pollution and the carcinogens from the diesel exhaust pumped into the air cause unwanted health problems for residents.
Because of the lax federal regulations, these trains are not subject to any type of rigorous scrutiny. These trains need to be regulated more stringently by the Federal Government for the sake of the people of this country, if not all together banned due to the massive safety issues associate with them. Most of these railroad lines inspect themselves which is completely unacceptable in terms of transparency and accurate assessments. Frighteningly, most of these towns aren't equipped with any type of evacuation plan in the case of a potential explosion leaving many lives as well as necessities to maintain life at risk.
We cannot allow this to continue knowing the risks and hazards associated with this type of crude oil transport. We need to keep fossil fuels, including Bakken Crude, in the ground and set our sights on renewable sources of energy to sustain our planet.
Please stand with me to hold the federal government accountable for its actions and to demand our citizens of this nation are kept secure and out of harms way. Don't let your town be the next statistic!
