This is about more than trains
Recent train derailments & a chemical spill/burn off in Ohio has raised the alarm for many about the impacts of private corporations lobbying for deregulation.
On February 3rd, a freight train carrying vinyl chloride traveling by East Palestine Ohio was derailed. Toxic chemicals were spilled and a “controlled burn” took place, which released hydrogen chloride and phosgene into the air. The following days were a commotion of ineffective communication coming from officials, evacuation orders, and boil water notices for communities downstream. The response from social media to get the word out about the disaster was nothing short of phenomenal. Citizen scientists gave instructions to locals on how to collect soil and water samples, advising on which labs were more trustworthy with their results. Independent journalists immediately took action to see the impact for themselves.
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With reports of a reporter being arrested at a press conference for the derailment. Interest and conspiracy theories quickly sparked online. With calls for accountability ringing the loudest. People were anxious to find cohesive and reliable information and resolved to seek it out independently:
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Here comes the media
The calls for coverage grew louder by the day, we begin to see coverage from surprising sources. Even typically conservative hosts like Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity expressed outrage at the lack of response to the incident.
Fox News' Sean Hannity has expressed similar sentiments, arguing that "[t]he people in your neighboring community deserve to know that the government is on top of this, so that they can raise their children in an environment that is safe, with clean water and clean air."
The disaster in Ohio is illustrating the undeniable impact that corporate lobbying has on not just our politics, but our day-to-day safety. From NRA gun lobbying, Oil and Gas companies vying for rollbacks on regulations, to rail companies buying legislation that puts towns and people at risk; allowing these corporations to determine our politics is literally ruining lives.