Earlier this summer, Eric de Place, Sightline Institute policy director, spoke at an oil trains and coal exports forum in Spokane, Washington—a region facing an especially severe onslaught of rail traffic. Thanks to Dancing Crow Media, here is the entirety of the forum. Enjoy the video, and share it with a friend unfamiliar with the topic. This is a great place to start—your very own 101 course on coal exports and oil trains.
Don’t miss these highlights:
- At 8:02, Eric discusses how carbon pollution from all of the planned fossil fuel projects in the Northwest would burn the carbon equivalent of five Keystone XL Pipelines.
- Then, at 17:30, he shows a photo timeline of oil train derailments—at least 10 in the last two years.
- And at 21:39, Eric digs into why we can’t trust BNSF management and their emergency response plan.