I’ve been looking at maps of  bomb train routes. Maps of proposed pipelines and other infrastructure projects like LNG ports and gas-fired power plants. Maps of fracking wells and areas where fracking earthquakes are popping up like crazy.

Looking at all these maps, I see each community that has been put on the fossil fuel chopping block and think about the people I know who are now forced to live their lives in these danger zones. Looking at map after map, I can also see the bigger picture of fossil fuel domination as it expands across our country, a dangerous web of pipelines and train tracks that connect well pads to the rest of the world, threatening us all.

Seeing the bigger picture is a powerful thing, that’s why were starting a new series on our blog- Map of the Week.

All maps from: http://explosive-crude-by-rail.org/

Our first Map of the Week shows the danger zone created by crude-oil bomb trains running through my hometown of Pittsburgh, PA.

The red is 0.5 Mile US DOT Evacuation Zone for Oil Train Derailments and the yellow is 1.0 Mile US DOT Potential Impact Zone in Case of Oil Train Fire.

Pittsburgh may have been the first city in the world to ban fracking, but when it comes to crude oil bomb trains, it’s marked by a giant X of potential disaster, with trains running by all three major rivers and near sporting stadiums and hospitals.

And it’s not just Pittsburgh.

Once the crude oil is fracked in North Dakota, it's shipped out over a dangerous web of rails across our country through the backyards of America, into our major cities. In some places, these are the very same tracks that carry passengers through Amtrak and commuter rail.

The bomb trains in and around Chicago form a catcher's mitt of potential disaster.

Parts of LA are also in the crosshairs

Bomb trains run along the Hudson River and circle Albany like a dangerous ring of fire.

From Fort Collins, down through Boulder and Denver, to Colorado Springs, many Colorado towns are at risk.

* in this case indicates a potential bomb train disaster in Fort Worth

For more information on these dangerous bomb trains, watch our Video of the Week: “A Danger on Rails” by Jon Bowermaster.

And to see if your town is in the bomb train blast zone visit http://explosive-crude-by-rail.org/

Lee Ziesche, Grassroots Coordinator

P.S. If you have videos or maps you’d like us to share please email me at leeziesche@gmail.com
P.P.S Please consider chipping in so we can continue to share this vital information. Donate Here

Bomb Trains from Messiah Rhodes on Vimeo.

While on a recent train trip from Denver to New York City, my view of our country was often blocked by the black blur of a train hauling crude-oil tanks.

I watched these bomb trains cross through the backyards of America transporting oil fracked in the Bakken Shale; a once rural region of North Dakota that can now be seen from space because the fracking flares burn so bright.

We recently toured across Pennsylvania and New York, and communities from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia and from Buffalo across the state to Albany all the way up through Plattsburgh are scared their town could be the next Lac-Megantic disaster; 47 people were killed there when an oil train derailed and exploded, burning down most of the downtown area.

Seeing those bomb trains rumble through towns, it’s so clear that the future they are speeding off towards is not the one I want for the country beyond my window.

They are careening towards a world where instead of switching to a safer, more sustainable track, we kick it into high gear and squeeze every last drop of fossil fuels from our planet using more extreme methods like fracking and offshore drilling.

The fossil fuel industry is getting more desperate and dangerous with every passing day. They won’t stop endangering our communities and our planet until we demand the alternative.

Please watch and share our Video of the Week: “Bomb Trains” by Messiah Rhodes.

Thanks and have a great weekend,

Lee Ziesche, Grassroots Coordinator