Jason Isaac tells us that “one surprising contributor” to all the freight train derailments we keep hearing about more and more frequently is the Biden/Harris Administration’s misguided energy policy — the administration’s war on fossil fuels. Writing in the Texas Policy Foundation’s “The Daily Cannon,” Isaac explains:
Biden’s energy policies are, you might say, a literal train wreck.
Gas prices are a full dollar higher under President Biden than under the pro-energy, pro-business policies of the Trump administration. But diesel prices have spiked even more dramatically, leaping from $2.55 a gallon in 2020 to a painful $4.99 in 2022. It makes sense that this would drive an additional increase in the cost of goods, but it also means companies are rethinking the way they ship their products.
For bulk cargo like lumber, coal, steel, chemicals, and even cars, trucking has long been the natural choice because of its speed and flexibility. It’s much simpler and quicker to get a truckload of goods out the door than it is to coordinate a freight delivery with a third-party railway. But trucking is considerably more expensive, especially with diesel prices through the roof.
So, many companies are making the switch to rail, sacrificing nimbleness for cost….
Combined with data suggesting rail safety may be waning and increased demand creating longer trains, this is yet another reason to question the Biden administration’s anti-fossil fuel policies.
The outrageous and unnecessarily high gas and diesel price hikes are a direct result of Biden’s admitted war on reliable fossil fuels. As you can see in the following video, Biden warned us during the 2020 presidential campaign when he guaranteed he would “end fossil fuels:”
During a June 6, 2019, campaign event in New Castle, N.H., Joe Biden told a questioner, “I guarantee you we’re going to end fossil fuels.”
It seems we are hearing about trains derailing and spilling toxic substances more and more frequently. On April 8, 2023, another train derailed in Jasper Alabama, spilling diesel fuel and engine oil. CNN reports that on April 2, 2023, another freight train derailed, this time in Paradise, Montana. Approximately 25 cars derailed near Highway 135, on the banks of the Clark Fork River, about 200 miles northwest of Bozeman. According to CNN, there did not appear to be any hazardous materials onboard. There was another major train derailment in West Virginia on March 8, 2023, which injured three crew members and spilled diesel fuel in a river. Just weeks before that, Susie Moore reported here and here on the extremely toxic train wreck in East Palestine, Ohio. And on February 13, 2023, Nick Arama reported that two more trains derailed — one in Montgomery, Texas, and another in Enoree, South Carolina.
As Isacc reminds us, Biden has demanded oil companies increase production while making up silly rules, regulations, and executive orders that make it impossible for the companies to meet his demands. Biden begs Saudi Arabia and Venezuela to produce more oil and even makes it possible for Iran to produce more oil instead of empowering American energy companies to produce it. Biden has depleted our critical Strategic Petroleum Reserve in a shameless political effort to lower gas prices before the 2022 midterms. Biden even vetoed a bill to prevent climate politics from interfering with Americans’ retirement investments following the path of the now-failed Silicon Valley Bank.
For many reasons, including reducing Biden’s energy policy train wrecks, and improving the safety of railways and the communities the railways pass through, America must reject Biden’s war on fossil fuels and again embrace those most affordable, reliable, and abundant sources of energy.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member