From the River Reporter: Sign the Catskill Mountainkeeper petition telling President Biden and United States Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to keep “bomb trains” carrying highly explosive liquefied natural gas (LNG) out of our communities. 

Transporting LNG by train is extremely dangerous—just 22 rail cars carrying LNG contain the energy equivalent of a nuclear bomb. These trains expose residents to air pollution and bring volatile, explosive cargo within throwing distance from families’ homes. The margin for error when transporting LNG by rail is paper thin, and even the slightest accident would result in tragedy.

Train derailments are not unheard of, and the consequences of these incidents are devastating. Earlier this month, a train carrying vinyl chloride derailed in an Ohio community, poisoning local air and water. If that train had been carrying LNG, the town would have likely been leveled entirely. 

If we don’t stop LNG transport by rail, companies like New Fortress Energy could shuttle bomb trains through rural and urban communities in Pennsylvania—including Scranton and Philadelphia—to an export terminal in Gibbstown, NJ.

To protect these communities and our climate, we need to suspend the Trump-era regulation that permits the country-wide bulk transportation of LNG by rail.

This is a critical moment, and we ask that you please add your name to our petition calling for a ban on the transportation of LNG by rail.

The petition can be found at www.catskillmountainkeeper.org/stop_lng_by_rail.

Wes Gillingham
Co-founder and associate director, Catskill Mountainkeeper
Hurleyville, NY