Canadian Oil Forced to Rail by Obama Keystone XL Boycott = Oilspill

As noted before, (Canada Shipping Oil to US By Rail To Get Around Obama's Keystone XL Blockade) crude oil from Canada is going to come to the US, whether the Keystone XL pipeline get built or not. The failure of the Obama Administration to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline has been a boon to the railroads who are shipping ever greater amounts of crude oil to the US. Unfortunately, rail transport is not as efficient or safe as rail when transporting liquids.

So, it comes as no surprise to me that one of these trains has derailed, spilling oil.

A mile-long train hauling oil from Canada derailed, spilling 30,000 gallons of crude in western Minnesota on Wednesday, as debate rages over the environmental risks of transporting tar sands across the border.

The major spill, the first since the start of a boom in North American crude-by-rail transport three years ago, came when 14 cars on a 94-car Canadian Pacific train left the tracks about 150 miles northwest of Minneapolis near the town of Parkers Prairie, the Otter Tail Sheriff's Department said. - Daily Mail, UK

It is going to happen again. Surely many other transportation professionals will agree. Such large quantities of crude oil should be moved by pipeline.

'It is good business for the rails and bad safety for the public,' said Jim Hall, a transportation consultant and former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.

'Railroads travel through population centers. The safest form of transport for this type of product is a pipeline. This accident could - and ought to - raise the issue for discussion.' - Daily Mail, UK

As I said before, Liberals, you want the pipeline...