Transportation

"At a time when Alaska state officials are eager to provide low-cost fuel to the energy-hungry Fairbanks region, the Alaska Railroad Corp. is seeking to become the first U.S. company to ship liquefied natural gas by rail."

"The U.S. rail industry is pushing the White House to drop a requirement that oil trains adopt an advanced braking system, a cornerstone of a national safety plan that will soon govern shipments of crude across the country."

"The Canadian government has proposed tough new standards for rail tank cars used to transport crude oil in response to a string of fiery crashes."

"A Venezuela-bound tanker spilled an unknown amount of gasoline additive MTBE into the Houston Ship Channel after a crash with another vessel, shutting down a portion of the waterway and one container terminal."

Climate change not only affects how much food is grown, but also how it gets to market. Storm surges, floods, and other extreme weather events around the world highlight the vulnerability of food distribution systems.

"A train carrying crude oil along the banks of the Mississippi River derailed Thursday in a rural area of northwestern Illinois south of the town of Galena, starting a fire and leading the authorities to recommend that nearby residents leave their homes."

"The canal would allow passage for the largest ships on the water, but cut through wetlands, forests and the region's largest freshwater lake — and environmentalists worry about the consequences."

"The federal government predicts that trains hauling crude oil or ethanol will derail an average of 10 times a year over the next two decades, causing more than $4 billion in damage and possibly killing hundreds of people if an accident happens in a densely populated part of the U.S."

"An oil train was still on fire and leaking in West Virginia on Tuesday, a day after it derailed and erupted in flames, according to CSX Corp, which said the train was hauling newer model tank cars, not the older versions widely criticized as prone to puncture."

"The United States is sending a heavy icebreaker to help free an Australian fishing boat with 27 people on board that has been stranded since Tuesday in the icy Antarctic seas, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Wednesday."