Transportation

After four tank cars full of crude oil from a derailed train incinerated a small Quebec town, killing at least five, the debate over rail versus pipeline for oil transport intensifies.

"President Obama’s ambitious goals to curb the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions, unveiled last week, will get a fortuitous assist from an incipient shift in American behavior: recent studies suggest that Americans are buying fewer cars, driving less and getting fewer licenses as each year goes by."

"A solar-powered plane nearing the close of a cross-continental journey landed at Dulles International Airport outside the nation’s capital early Sunday, only one short leg to New York remaining on a voyage that opened in May."

"The government of Nicaragua is fast-tracking a bill that would authorize a company from China to build a new canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The dream of a Nicaraguan canal dates back more than a century."

"Aboard the Dorothy Ann, in Lake Erie near Fairport Harbor, Ohio — As Capt. Jeremy R. Mock steered this 711-foot combination of tug and barge toward a harbor berth, a screen of red numbers indicated the decreasing depth of water under the vessel: 6 feet, 3.6 feet, 2 feet."

"Shipping along the Arctic northern sea route is set to grow more than 30-fold over the next eight years and could account for a quarter of the cargo traffic between Europe and Asia by 2030, experts said on Wednesday."

"Tesla joins Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt in the race for electric car sales. After a recording-breaking March for the Nissan Leaf, sales of electric cars dipped in April."

"President Obama plans to nominate Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx to serve as transportation secretary, a White House official said Sunday."

"MAYFLOWER, Ark. -- An ExxonMobil pipeline that ruptured and spilled thousands of barrels of oil in central Arkansas last week highlights the need for pipeline maintenance, inspections and safety standards, the state's attorney general said Wednesday."