Ban the Bomb Trains

Due to the boom in hydrofracking, oil and gas companies have a glut of product to transport to refineries on the coasts of America. They are transporting this highly volatile, explosive crude over antiquated rail lines in tank cars designed to carry corn syrup and molasses. The federal government reports that last year, more than 1.15 million gallons of crude oil leaked and spilled from rail tank cars. That's more than was spilled in all the previous forty years!

Top federal rail administrator Karl Alexy recently stated that it is impossible to "design a rail car strong enough to withstand crude oil rail train accidents ..."

In August, 2013, forty-seven innocent people were incinerated when these cars derailed and exploded in Lac Megantic, Quebec. It's expected to cost billions to rebuild Lac Megantic and compensate the victims, but the railroad and the crude oil owner have "gone out of business."

In December, 2013, a 106-car crude oil train derailed in Castleton, North Dakota. Eighteen tank cars exploded; the fired burned for two days.

On April 30, 2014, six DOT-111 rail cars of a virtual pipeline of crude derailed and exploded in Lynchburgh, Virginia, burning for hours and polluting the water supplies for thousands of people.

These DOT-111 rail cars were declared unsafe and hazardous by US and Canadian railroad officials in 2011, yet they are still carrying millions of gallons of explosive crude oil through unsuspecting and helpless communities all across the United States, every day. This is wrong.

President Obama can use his authority under last March's Executive Order to halt this unprecedented and unnecessary risk today. Let's make this happen before another person dies in flames.