The environment is important, but what about the people that live along the railroad route over which 100 unit oil trains pass everyday from North Dakota and elsewhere. The safety factor of a pipeline is multitudes greater than that of rail. Should anyone along these routes be killed in an oil train derailment, then the responsibility should go to the Administration.
Our government, party aside, has lost its marbles. They govern and legislate from the hip and in knee-jerk fashion. While households, small businesses and corporations plan and plan for contingencies, our government has no clue how to do that. Why should they? They can tax with impunity, change the rules to suit their politics, and preserve the crony political system.
What happens when the Administration or Congress govern and legislate from the hip, they miss the law of unintended consequences. When one takes the time to actually plan for the future, they calculate the risks and rewards of an action. This means they look at what the impact on one bill or action might have on something else. Such an unintended consequence with this Keystone Pipeline rejection, will be that oil will now be forced to travel by road (near haul) and rail (distant haul). The statistics for derailment and hence air and ground water pollution, death and destruction is massively in rail's favor when compared to pipeline.
So, when those who die from fires or explosions from a derailed oil train, don't solely blame the railroad companies, blame the Administration and Congress. Now that's politics.
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