When an environmental disaster strikes, what do you do? Do you advocate for those affected and implement policy solutions to keep the problem from occurring again? Or do you exploit this one environmental disaster to make the argument that other environmental issues are now somehow invalid?
Right-wing media chose the latter option in response to the train derailment and resulting chemical pollution in Ohio.
Here’s what actually happened. On February 3, a train operated by Norfolk Southern carrying toxic petrochemicals derailed in the small town of East Palestine, Ohio. A fire started, and nearby Ohio and Pennsylvania residents were ordered to evacuate. On February 6, Norfolk Southern “released toxic fumes from several derailed train cars that it said were at risk of exploding.”
The EPA started to monitor the water runoff and air quality in the area on February 4, continuing to give updates every day since. On February 8, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced that evacuated residents could return home because air quality readings showed safe levels of contaminants.
The National Transportation Security Board (NTSB) began investigating the causes of the derailment disaster alongside other authorities. One potential explanation is that the train cars were wrongly labeled as non-hazardous. Another possible contributing factor is that in 2017, the Trump administration rolled back a rule that “required railroad companies to install electronically controlled pneumatic brakes by 2021,” deciding instead that “railroads with trains carrying highly flammable liquids will not have to update their braking systems.”
Conservative media didn't seem eager to blame the petrochemical industry for the toxic mess, nor did it point to regulations as a solution. Instead, they attacked the people who are calling for more regulations on the petrochemical industry.
On February 13, Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson claimed that the Biden administration did not care about what happened in East Palestine because the county overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump and because the disaster is unrelated to climate change. That last point is false on multiple levels, since the spilled substances (like vinyl chloride) are related to climate change, in that the plastic industry is basically a byproduct of the fossil fuel industry. Never one for factual fidelity, Carlson snidely remarked, “If you can’t use it to sell solar panels, it’s not really an environmental disaster. That’s the rule in Washington.”
Climate denialist Steve Milloy, who has spent much of his career undermining the EPA and the FDA to protect his clients in Big Oil and Big Tobacco, went on Fox News to say that since he thinks the “EPA lies all the time," he's going to go ahead and “point the finger at EPA.”
Disinformation about the Ohio disaster spread quickly on social media. Conservative media sites like PragerU claimed the issue was not getting enough attention and shared a video of the disaster, which emphasized animal deaths and the arrest of an on-site reporter (whose charges were later dismissed). Conservative commentators like Dan Bongino argued on Facebook that only conservative media sites were covering the derailment and that other media outlets were silent in order to protect the Biden administration, despite numerous stories covering the derailment disaster.
Many social media posts ran with the narrative that mainstream climate activism was ignoring the Ohio derailment. One Twitter user shared a video of the derailment fire alongside an inflammatory statement: “They want to preach about climate change… but do this. #OhioChernobyl.” Multiple Twitter and Reddit accounts posted pictures of plumes of toxic smoke rising above East Palestine, with one Twitter user writing, “If a single sea turtle in CA choked on a plastic straw we’d be bombarded with hyperbolic headlines for weeks. Yet *actual humans* have been breathing in this giant plume of toxic polyvinyl chloride for over a week in Ohio and…barely any news coverage? #OhioChernobyl.”
The fact is that the toxic chemical pollution in East Palestine is an environmental disaster of great proportions, but despite what conservative media would have you believe, environmental organizations and activists are greatly concerned about the situation. We shouldn’t be framing environmental disasters as either/or situations: The Ohio disaster and climate change are both issues of environmental justice that we should work to address. And in case you forgot, Republicans don’t exactly have a stellar record when it comes to the environment, so maybe they should think twice before pretending to be environmental justice activists all of a sudden.