Decades ago, Portland, Oregon established an image as the most environmentally friendly city in the world. But is the progressive city?s progress still too slow" A dozen cars idle in standstill traffic on a dark winter morning; the rain and the quivering reflections of headlights on a wet street are the only signs of movement. A red light turns green. The line doesn?t budge.
The back-to-back vehicles are waiting for a slow-moving train to cross this main artery of Portland?s morning commute along the west side of the Willamette River.
I?m pacing and stretching next to traffic; the train has blocked my running route. I can?t see the faces of drivers through the rain, but the low grumble of idling engines is a chorus of frustration. All these people are probably going to be late for work. And they probably don?t know how paltry this inconvenience could prove, compared to the deadly disaster one of these trains could ignite. Two years ago, Zenith Energy purchased an old asphalt factory in Northwest Portland, converting the abandoned space into a shipping terminal for, among other things, tar sand oil from Alberta, Canada?the dirtiest and most carbon-intensive of fossil fuels. The black tanks are identifiable by the label ?1267? and the words ?toxic inhalation hazard.? It was oil-carrying tanks that derailed in Mosier, Oregon, in 2016, spilling 42,000 gallons of crude. People said it was a miracle that, thanks to a rare windless day in the Columbia River Gorge, the...