Transportation

"EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — President Biden arrived here Friday, more than a year after a train derailment that caused an environmental disaster and a political furor, attempting to focus on the steps his administration has taken and to lay the blame on the train company."

"A coalition of environmental groups has sued the federal government to try to force the finalization of ship speed rules that the groups say are critically important to save a vanishing species of whale."

"As soon as next year, the United States’ fossil fuel industry will gain its first foothold on a valuable shortcut to sell natural gas to Asia. The shortcut goes straight through Mexico."

"President Biden will travel to East Palestine on Feb. 16, a little more than a year a since the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train carrying toxic chemicals near the town."

"Clean electricity alone won’t get us to a fossil-fuel-free society — we’ll need other tools to fully decarbonize. ​“Clean” hydrogen, for all of its hype and baggage, might be the most promising way to cut carbon from difficult sectors like aviation and steelmaking. It could also be a boondoggle or a bust — it all depends on how the gas is made and how it’s used."

"Stalled efforts to reform the nation’s rail safety and chemical oversight as well as lingering toxic exposure concerns will loom over President Joe Biden’s upcoming visit to the Ohio town devastated by last year’s train wreck."

"There are more than four million electric vehicles on American roads, but fewer than 1,000 of them are heavy-duty trucks. On Tuesday, the three largest truck makers announced a push to remedy that deficit by calling on governments and utilities to help them build many more places to charge big rigs."

"Less than a year ago, a disastrous train derailment sent a massive plume of dangerous chemicals billowing over East Palestine, Ohio, startling the town of nearly 5,000 residents and onlookers nationwide. Now, a new report warns that more of these catastrophes may loom: At any given moment, more than an estimated 3 million people are unknowingly at risk, as toxic trains full of a highly combustible and carcinogenic chemical used to make plastic move between Texas and New Jersey."

"Electrified transportation sped past renewable energy last year to become the world’s largest category of energy transition investment."

"The total number of accidents for the top five freight railroads increased, and Congress still hasn’t passed legislation to prevent similar disasters."