Hi,

This month’s freight train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio has been an
environmental and health disaster. After a black mushroom cloud billowed
toxic fumes for days, local residents are reporting severe health issues,
animals and plants are dying, and countless people are being exposed to
chemicals with unknown long-term effects.^1

Experts say the severity of this accident could have been dramatically
reduced if the government had implemented basic safety regulations. The
Obama administration introduced such rules back in 2014, but the Trump
White House removed them, paving the way for the Ohio disaster.^2

Despite being in power for two years, Transportation Secretary Pete
Buttigieg has failed to advocate for the return of these common sense
safety measures.

[ [link removed] ]Add your name: Restore basic safety rules on American railroads!

ADD YOUR NAME

The Obama-era rule mandated that rail companies install new, safer braking
technology on some trains. Many U.S. trains still use air brake technology
first developed during the Civil War and are in dire need of an upgrade.
Corporate lobbyists from companies like Norfolk-Southern—whose trail
derailed in Ohio—succeeded in watering down these Obama-era regulations,
then the Trump administration destroyed them altogether.

When asked if the newer braking technology would have mitigated the Ohio
disaster, a former senior official at the Federal Railroad Administration
(FRA) said, “Yes.”^2

Railway workers have been sounding the alarm on these safety concerns for
years.^3 John Risch, a former railway engineer and the national
legislative director for the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation
Union, said the new brakes are the “most remarkable advancement” he’s seen
in his career, and that their installation would dramatically increase
safety. Railway corporations have also been severely reducing railway
staffing, and refusing to grant workers sick days and other basic
workplace benefits. Forcing employees to overwork themselves while sick
and understaffed both hurts workers and increases the rate of dangerous
accidents.^2

Despite being in charge of railway regulation, Transportation Secretary
Pete Buttigieg has not made any statement on plans to increase railway
safety. With the country’s eyes on the Ohio disaster, now is the time to
stand up to the corporate railway lobbyists and reestablish and expand the
Obama-era safety rules.

[ [link removed] ]Add your name: No more derailment disasters!

Thanks for taking action,

Joey and the team at Demand Progress

[ [link removed] ]DONATE

Sources: 

 1. The New Republic, “Life After the Ohio Train Derailment: Trouble
Breathing, Dying Animals, and Saying Goodbye,” [ [link removed] ]February 13, 2023.
 2. The Lever, “Rail Companies Blocked Safety Rules Before Ohio
Derailment,” [ [link removed] ]February 8, 2023.
 3. The New Republic, “Rail Workers Tried to Warn Us the Ohio Train
Derailment Would Happen,” [ [link removed] ]February 8, 2023.
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