An oil train composed of 1232 cars derails (picks a switch?) at Interbay Yard, derailing three tank cars at about 5 MPH. But look at the virtual panic attack!
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/oil-train-derails-seattle-rail-yard-spill-24697788
More balanced article:
TV news; the media keeping the sheep scared. [tdn] [tdn]
Read several articles from PNW sources about the incident - the terminology used by the writers made it seem that they were amazed and disappointed that there wasn’t an all encompassing catastrophic explosion from the incident.
Seems like the bigger news might be that there were 1232 cars in the train. [(-D]
(Sorry man- the [}:)] made me do it.)
The media has since moved on to other things, since nothing actually exploded, and since the Ballard Car Shop is located about half a mile away in the yard, there was no dramatic “removal of wreckage” story to be had. I’m just disappointed that there was so much fear-hype over the railroad equivalent of a fender bender.
Having been up in Whatcom County (ground ZERO for the GPT debate) for the last five years or so- I can tell you- these guys are looking for every chance they can get to find a way to stop the trains. First it was the coal, and now it’s the oil. It’s like the trains just showed up overnight, and all of a sudden they want them gone.
Sometimes I’m embarased to admit I live up here, actually… [:$]
+1, sadly. People are now turning to incredibly bizarre arguments, such as BNSF’s choice to move a few empty coal trains to the Sumas Sub being a violation of Native American treaty rights and killing endangered species. I could say a lot more, but would have difficulty being civil. Fear tactics and misinformation are everywhere.
“If you move next to the train tracks, don’t complain about the trains.” Oh, how I wish…
The term “reasonable environmentalist” is an oxymoron.
Not true, unless clean air and water an unreasonable request.
Looks like for some folks on here, clean air and water and safety are all unreasonable requests made only by NIMBYs, the media, outsiders and ecocrazies. Fortunately for the rest of us, they may be a majority on here, but not with the public at large.
Sorry, to disagree Eddie, but I consider myself a very reasonable environmentalist.
Actually I am happy to disagree[:)]
Let me join in to say that environmental concern and support for taking care of the place we all share is not only reasonable, but I think you’ll find that it has deep support across the political and religious spectrum.
Or put another way: you make a mess, you clean it up. Or your kids or their kids will have to try to.
Guys, this thread has drifted off topic. I am mostly guilty of causing that by bringing in the environmentalist reactions to train increases in the PNW, which is a big contributor to the large scale media response to the derailment. However, I’d like to limit discussion of environmentalists to their effects and responses to trains in the PNW, and about the incident that prompted the thread. Please take your discussion on the merits of environmentalism elsewhere.
I sincerely wish I could feel less-jaded toward the environmental movement; I grew up near Pennsylvania’s deeply-scarred anthracite regions, and was introduced to the more-respectable “conservation” movement by enlightened teachers and relatives at an early age. But the point remains that, beginning in the turbulence of the late Sixties, that sentiment was hijacked by the collection of often-economically-ignorant one-issue extremists on the Left side of our nation’s current polarization – and not too many of them are interested in a dialogue limited to those who actually have an understanding of the real-world constraints. Emotional appeals featuring cuddly polar bears and directed toward adolescents are far more “effective” to the mindset of the radicals who drowned out what was once a respectable cause.