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Ohio train derailment: environmental disaster quietly unfolding

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Re: Ohio train derailment: environmental disaster quietly unfolding

#141

Post by wnevets »

alanbernstein wrote: post #140
wnevets wrote: post #139

I got to know, do the pro nuclear crowd really want to live down wind of a nuclear power plant when they will be run by the same business processes and deregulation that lead to this disaster, Fukushima, the BP oil rig disaster, etc?

I got to know, do the pro coal crowd really want to live down wind of a coal power plant when they will be run by the same business processes and deregulation that lead to this disaster, Fukushima, the BP oil rig disaster, etc?

Coal is dying on it's own, the free market has decided.

I have zero problem living down wind of solar panels and wind turbines

Re: Ohio train derailment: environmental disaster quietly unfolding

#142

Post by [deleted] »

trynewideas wrote: post #87
avalys wrote: post #56

Oh, in fact, I have heard of it, and all the coverage I've heard is people grimly telling me about how horrible it is and how no one is covering how terribly horrible it is. What I haven't seen is any actual reporting . You know, talking to an expert, someone who has any actual knowledge about what steps are being taken, what the threat is, what steps should be taken but aren't, etc. But hey, those ominous black clou…

> What I haven't seen is any actual reporting. You know, talking to an expert, someone who has any actual knowledge about what steps are being taken, what the threat is, what steps should be taken but aren't, etc. https://www.wkbn.com/news/local-news/east-palestine-train-de... > “I think it was not in the best interest of human health and welfare and the environment to simply cover it up and keep going without at lea…

[deleted]

Re: Ohio train derailment: environmental disaster quietly unfolding

#143

Post by mortenjorck »

renewedrebecca wrote: post #17

A thread from Mastodon, with a few pictures: https://oldbytes.space/@swordsjew@mstdn.social/1098487070662...

> now megatoxins are Chernobyling Ohio and there's a news blackout and the police are beating reporters and camera people and dragging em

Unless this poster can supply some corroborating information, or perhaps a scientific definition of "megatoxin," this is more noise than signal.

Re: Ohio train derailment: environmental disaster quietly unfolding

#144

Post by JumpCrisscross »

pessimizer wrote: post #64
refuse wrote: post #5

I've heard about this, but it is surprising how little coverage it gets compared to other things. If you were to tally up how much airtime each news story gets, plotted against the general tone of the coverage, you'd probably come up with something resembling the news room agenda (you'd also have to weigh it against other stories developing at around the same time). I have to wonder why a story of environmental disas…

> If you were to tally up how much airtime each news story gets, plotted against the general tone of the coverage, you'd probably come up with something resembling the news room agenda It's not like it's subtle. There have been hundreds of Chinese weather balloon stories in the past week. Have there been hundreds of stories about this? US companies make money from stories about Chinese weather balloons. They lose mon…

> Have there been hundreds of stories about this?

Chinese balloons are novel. This is not. It’s tragic. But its most memorable element seems to be the meta-debate around its coverage. That's boring.

Re: Ohio train derailment: environmental disaster quietly unfolding

#145

Post by CatWChainsaw »

jandrese wrote: post #98
bruce511 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am intrigued by your outrage (seriously). I'm curious to know what you are hoping the world's media will accomplish there? On the one hand train derailment, chemical fire, environmental damage - it makes for a story but really not a terribly interesting one (to me). It's certainly an unwelcome event, but there doesn't seem to be anything deeper than what you see on the surface. Is there a deeper story here? Is ther…

Outrage about this story is directed at Norfolk Southern for operating the train without modern safety gear, for the Trump administration for rescinding the Obama era rules that would have required them to install modern safety gear, and the Biden administration for breaking up the strike that the workers were making over the safety conditions (among other things). This accident was going to happen eventually and all…

Where's the capitalism good/regulation bad folks who post here? And do they want to take a field trip? :)

Re: Ohio train derailment: environmental disaster quietly unfolding

#146

Post by Natsu »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #144
pessimizer wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you were to tally up how much airtime each news story gets, plotted against the general tone of the coverage, you'd probably come up with something resembling the news room agenda It's not like it's subtle. There have been hundreds of Chinese weather balloon stories in the past week. Have there been hundreds of stories about this? US companies make money from stories about Chinese weather balloons. They lose mon…

> Have there been hundreds of stories about this? Chinese balloons are novel. This is not. It’s tragic. But its most memorable element seems to be the meta-debate around its coverage. That's boring.

I think the people in Ohio wondering if they're going to be in a Flint-like situation, WTF these chemicals the average person has never heard of are, and what's going to be done about it are all interesting subjects.

Alas, I haven't heard much about them from those knowledgeable enough to chime in on the subjects and I'd love to.

As for balloons, they got boring last week, other than some airspace closures that only pilots need worry about. China has always been spying on us, the methods might be new, but not the fact of it.

Re: Ohio train derailment: environmental disaster quietly unfolding

#147

Post by akira2501 »

zrobotics wrote: post #96
King-Aaron wrote: post #28

This was posted to reddit the other day: https://old.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/110nlai/... The footage has a lot of NSFW language, so just watch out for that. Within that thread there's some good discussion about some of the compounds that are being released into the air, and it is indeed very grim. Interestingly here in Australia, I've heard about it a lot more in traditional media than my American fri…

God, that footage is grim. Every railroader I know (BNSF & UP) has been super vocal about the working conditions for years. I know a guy who left his engineer position with the BN just due to how much the schedule sucks, this guy took a ~50% pay cut simply because the schedule and working conditions are so bad. All of this is preventable, but the railroads would rather chase higher profits and cut down on salary expe…

> but the railroads would rather chase higher profits and cut down on salary expenses.

All companies will do that. The reason rail companies can do this so ruthlessly and recklessly is complete lack of competition and exceedingly generous industry deregulation.

Re: Ohio train derailment: environmental disaster quietly unfolding

#148

Post by [deleted] »

zrobotics wrote: post #96
King-Aaron wrote: post #28

This was posted to reddit the other day: https://old.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/110nlai/... The footage has a lot of NSFW language, so just watch out for that. Within that thread there's some good discussion about some of the compounds that are being released into the air, and it is indeed very grim. Interestingly here in Australia, I've heard about it a lot more in traditional media than my American fri…

God, that footage is grim. Every railroader I know (BNSF & UP) has been super vocal about the working conditions for years. I know a guy who left his engineer position with the BN just due to how much the schedule sucks, this guy took a ~50% pay cut simply because the schedule and working conditions are so bad. All of this is preventable, but the railroads would rather chase higher profits and cut down on salary expe…

[deleted]

Re: Ohio train derailment: environmental disaster quietly unfolding

#149

Post by vel0city »

anigbrowl wrote: post #78
refuse wrote: post #5

I've heard about this, but it is surprising how little coverage it gets compared to other things. If you were to tally up how much airtime each news story gets, plotted against the general tone of the coverage, you'd probably come up with something resembling the news room agenda (you'd also have to weigh it against other stories developing at around the same time). I have to wonder why a story of environmental disas…

Last week has been full of horrific earthquake news, with the balloon nonsense as light relief. Couple that with local authorities and the freight hauling corporation saying that everything is fine, and I'm not surprised it flew below most people's radar. I submitted a story about it on Saturday and hardly anyone was interested.

I don't take the US military getting spooked enough to finally use F-22s to actually shoot something down, and have those somethings be publicly unidentified, as "light relief".

All in all, seems extremely concerning to me.

Re: Ohio train derailment: environmental disaster quietly unfolding

#150

Post by ballenf »

weard_beard wrote: post #111
nilespotter wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> union workers warning about this 2 months ago First I've heard that, got a reference?

Union negotiations shut down by Biden and Congress included safety reforms regarding car length and working hours. Both were factors in this derailment: https://www.rutgers.edu/news/why-did-government-step-prevent...

It would be nice when the dust settles to have a single bad actor to blame instead of systemic negligence, decades of inadequate maintenance or the like. Hopefully the investigation findings will reflect willingness to assign clear blame where it belongs.
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