Stop Subsidizing Dangerous Oil Trains!

  • by: Freya Harris
  • recipient: Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx and President Barack Obama

More oil was spilled from trains in the last two years than the previous forty years combined -- and now we know that in some places, the government was even helping pay for it!

For the past 18 months, Americans from Albany to Oregon have voiced growing alarm at public hearings and rallies over the rising number of oil trains coursing through their cities, a trend they fear is endangering public safety -- and for good reason.

47 people died when an oil train explosion destroyed much of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec. A train in Minnesota leaked for 70 miles before the spill was discovered. There have been explosions and spills in Alabama, Illinois, Virginia, and more -- no home is immune.

But a new Reuters analysis has found that state governments and the federal Department of Transportation alike have handed out tens of millions to expand crude oil rail transportation across the country. The public assistance in states like New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Oregon comes as railroads are posting record profits, and as authorities press for safety overhauls that the oil and rail industries have opposed.

Taxpayer money should not be used to support this dangerous practice. Instead, we should be spending it on developing clean, renewable energy such as solar, wind, geothermal, and biofuels!

Sign the petition today: Tell the Department of Transportation to stop funding deadly oil trains!

Dear Secretary Foxx,

I ask that the Department of Transportation immediately end all government subsidies of oil freight trains, such as those that Reuters reported you gave to Philadelphia Energy Solutions and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. As oil train explosions and spills from Alabama to North Dakota show, this is a very dangerous way to transport oil -- I fear for my community, and those of my friends and family across the country.

We should focus those dollars on mass public transit and on clean energy, as part of honoring the president's promise to address climate change! Please publicly announce an end to all oil train subsidies!
Update #19 years ago
Your actions matter. People like you sent more than 110,000 messages demanding tougher safety regulations for shipping oil by train - and on May 1, the Obama Administration unveiled new regulations. Tragically, the move comes too late to prevent another train explosion - this week in North Dakota. We’ll keep fighting for safer trains and pipeline safety. Please help: http://bit.ly/1AzREz8.
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