The toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, is straining public trust in federal safety measures just as the Biden administration begins its high-stakes effort to reindustrialize the U.S. economy around green energy. The Feb. 3 derailment of a 150-car Norfolk Southern train sent tankers carrying hazardous chemicals such as vinyl chloride tumbling off the tracks in the 4,700-person village, causing explosions and smoke plumes while forcing residents to evacuate. Environmental Protection Agency chief Michael Regan was the first Cabinet-level Biden appointee to visit the site yesterday, nearly two weeks after the disaster poisoned the soil, air and water. Regan assured residents it’s safe to return home and that the agency is conducting around-the-clock air monitoring. But many people, complaining of headaches and rashes, are wary. And lawmakers from both parties have said the White House should have acted more urgently in the disaster's wake. The calamity, and the national media attention it’s drawing, represents a tough political test for Regan and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg — two officials who are also helping lead President Joe Biden’s clean energy overhaul. To be clear, slashing planet-warming pollution is critical for curbing the climate crisis. But the president’s climate strategy includes mining the minerals needed for electric vehicle batteries, building factories to process those minerals, and laying long-range transmission lines to carry wind and solar power to cities — all of it in someone’s backyard. And the administration will need to assure Americans that these projects aren’t endangering people and wildlife. Of course, fossil fuel infrastructure has its own damaging track record and arguably poses greater risks. Its history includes the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010, Cancer Alley in Louisiana, ongoing black lung cases in West Virginia, numerous fatal pipeline explosions and pervasive environmental justice violations. But building out the low-carbon economy is not without safety risks. The nation’s largest proposed lithium mine in Nevada is under scrutiny for its potential degradation of nearby aquifers, air quality, sage grouse habitat and Indigenous sacred sites. Solar arrays in the western United States are impeding wildlife corridors, and the sonic disruptions from building offshore wind farms can harm marine life, if only temporarily. Regan vowed to use the government’s legal authority to hold rail carrier Norfolk Southern accountable for the public health crisis. How well the administration does that could bear on its ability to achieve its climate ambitions.
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