For Immediate Release
December 18, 2015
Contact:
Jon Kenney, 240-396-1985, jon@chesapeakeclimate.org
Kelly Trout, 240-396-2022, kelly@chesapeakeclimate.org

CCAN Statement: Vote to Lift the Oil Export Ban Puts Baltimore at Greater Risk

In response to the budget deal passed by Congress that would lift the 40-year crude oil export ban, Jon Kenney, Healthy Communities Organizer for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, released the following statement:
“For Big Oil, Christmas came early. On the heels of historic international climate progress, the Obama administration and Congress have caved to the pressure of companies like Exxon, lifting a 40-year ban on exporting crude oil overseas. With Congress failing to protect our communities from oil trains, it’s even more critical that the Baltimore City Council steps up.
“Put simply, lifting the oil export ban incentivizes the extraction of more fossil fuels. This means more fracking in places like North Dakota, more explosive crude oil trains rolling through cities like Baltimore, and more climate pollution. A recent study estimated that the new oil drilled to meet overseas demand could produce as much annual greenhouse gas pollution as 135 coal-fired power plants, and could put an additional 4,500 explosive crude oil trains on railroad tracks every day.
“What does this mean for our region? In Baltimore, we’re concerned that even more explosive crude oil trains could roll through the heart of the city, putting the 165,000 people who live within a mile of the tracks at even greater risk. Crude oil trains are already rolling through Baltimore, even as we lack a comprehensive understanding of the health and safety impacts.

“In response to today’s harmful vote in Congress, the Baltimore City Council can and should introduce a city ordinance requiring health and safety impact studies of oil trains, which they’ve promised to do in January. Our communities deserve to know what’s at stake as millions of gallons of toxic and flammable crude oil travels by schools, churches, hospitals, businesses, the Inner Harbor, and even City Hall.
“The evidence is in: to protect ourselves from the impacts of climate change, and the myriad health and safety dangers of extracting and transporting fossil fuels, we must keep most of remaining oil reserves in the ground. That means that the Obama administration can’t be hailing climate progress in Paris while Congress simultaneously sends a signal to the oil industry to extract more fossil fuels. This isn’t a trade off we can make any longer.”

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The Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the biggest and oldest grassroots organization dedicated to fighting climate change in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC. CCAN is building a powerful movement to shift our region away from climate-harming fossil fuels and to clean energy solutions: www.chesapeakeclimate.org.

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