Residents of an Ohio town who had been evacuated after a toxic freight train derailment earlier this month are demanding answers from the railway company involved as well as elected officials over health concerns.
The big picture: As emergency crews continue to clean up the site of the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, lawmakers have drawn attention to the government's oversight of the freight train system. Meanwhile, the Biden administration has promised to hold the rail operator accountable for the wreck and its aftermath.
Climate "doomism" — fatalistic messaging that nothing can be done to reverse climate change on a global scale — is easy to find on outlets like TikTok, where the baseless argument has gone viral in recent years.
Why it matters: Organizations like Black Girl Environmentalist are challenging the misinformation that feeds the argument, which they say can lead to a loss of power for the communities bearing the brunt of climate impacts.
Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) said Sunday that residents of East Palestine, Ohio, are “right to be skeptical" after a toxic freight train derailment earlier this month forced residents to evacuate.
Driving the news: "Well, they’re right to be skeptical. The EPA administrator when I was there, both the state and federal EPA administrators, said that," Brown said on CNN's "State of the Union."
