On the recordJuly 6, 2011
Last weekend while most Americans were celebrating the Fourth of July, Montanans were, unfortunately, immersed in what has become a new American tradition: cleaning up oil spills. After Exxon's Silvertip pipeline failed and spewed 40,000 gallons of toxic oil into the Yellowstone River, Exxon quickly labeled the incident a ``freak accident''--a phrase commonly used by the oil industry after major spills. But an exhaustive history of Big Oil's spills makes it clear that these incidents are not ``freak accidents'' but evidence of Big Oil's neglect. Perhaps the most blatant, recent exhibit of empty safety promises belongs to TransCanada, who dubbed the Keystone pipeline ``the safest pipeline ever built.'' A year and 12 spills later, Keystone was shut down and deemed an ``imminent threat to life, property, and the environment.'' Before we permit the Keystone XL pipeline--another deadly TransCanada pipeline--we need to reauthorize our pipeline safety legislation because our pipelines need to be as consistent as Old Faithful. ____________________
