Stories about hot topics of trains carrying crude oil and proposed rules offer a variety of perspectives

More oil was spilled on U.S. railways in 2013 than in the previous 37 years combined, and that doesn't count the spillage and 47 deaths from a derailment in Quebec of a train running from North Dakota to Maine. The surge in accidents has led to new safety rules in Canada and a demand for new rules and upgrades in the U.S. as well as more readily available information on what trains are hauling. (McClatchy Tribune graphic)

The high number of "derailments across the country has triggered a high-stakes but behind-the-scenes campaign to shape how the government responds to calls for tighter safety rules," Joan Lowy reports for The Associated Press. "Billions of dollars are riding on how these rules are written, and lobbyists from the railroads, tank car manufacturers and the oil, ethanol and chemical industries have met 13 times since March with officials at the White House and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. Their universal message: Don't make us pay for increased safety because that's another industry's problem."

The AP story is one of many in a fine collection of links about the subject suggested by the Society of Environmental Journalists. Here are other stories:
"Protesters Demand State, City Governments Disclose Oil-Carrying Trains' Routes" - Chicago Business Journal
"Railroads Seek To Limit Oil Train Disclosures Despite Order in Wakeof Explosions" - FuelFix
"Railroads Disclose Figures, Details on Volatile Oil Train Shipments" - AP
"What You Should Know About Crude Oil on Trains Coming Through PA" - Public Source
"Toxic Cargo Ahead" - Las Vegas Sun
"As Rail Moves Frac Sand Across Wisconsin Landscape, New ConflictsEmerge" - Wisconsin Watch
"New York Won't Keep Oil Train Details Secret" - AP
"North Dakota Fracking: Behind the Oil-Train Explosions" - Wall Street Journal
"Louisiana Refuses To Disclose Oil Train Records" - New Orleans Times-Picayune
"N.Y. Will Disclose When, Where Trains Ship Oil" - Poughkeepsie Journal
"State May Disclose Oil Train Shipments" - Cherry Hill (NJ) Courier-Post
"Delaware Won't Disclose Oil Train Details" - Wilmington News Journal
"Nebraska Refuses To Disclose Oil Train Records" - KETV ABC 7 Omaha
"Bakken Oil Trains Run Through Iowa" - Des Moines Register
"U.S. Issues Safety Alert for Oil Trains" - New York Times