Stop Subsidizing Dangerous Oil Trains!

More oil was spilled from trains in the last two years than the previous forty years combined -- and now we know that in some places, the government was even helping pay for it!

For the past 18 months, Americans from Albany to Oregon have voiced growing alarm at public hearings and rallies over the rising number of oil trains coursing through their cities, a trend they fear is endangering public safety -- and for good reason.

47 people died when an oil train explosion destroyed much of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec. A train in Minnesota leaked for 70 miles before the spill was discovered. There have been explosions and spills in Alabama, Illinois, Virginia, and more -- no home is immune.

But a new Reuters analysis has found that state governments and the federal Department of Transportation alike have handed out tens of millions to expand crude oil rail transportation across the country. The public assistance in states like New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Oregon comes as railroads are posting record profits, and as authorities press for safety overhauls that the oil and rail industries have opposed.

Taxpayer money should not be used to support this dangerous practice. Instead, we should be spending it on developing clean, renewable energy such as solar, wind, geothermal, and biofuels!

Sign the petition today: Tell the Department of Transportation to stop funding deadly oil trains!