Petrochemical incidents aren’t always as visible as the East Palestine train derailment, but at least 322 happened last year.
by Emily Atkin, Heated
Climate policy obstructionists love to evangelize about the benefits of petrochemicals.
Last year, in commercials and Congressional hearings alike, the fossil fuel industry and its political allies upped their messaging around the chemical byproducts of oil and gas, calling petrochemicals “essential to life,” and warning it would be dangerous to phase them out or transition to greener alternatives.
What proponents consistently did not mention, however, was that petrochemicals were leaking, exploding, and catching fire all over the country last year, causing disastrous consequences multiple times per week.
There were at least 322 hazardous chemical incidents in the U.S. in 2023, according to the Chemical Incident Tracker, a database of media-reported accidental chemical releases compiled by the Coalition to Prevent Chemical Disasters. That’s around a 70 percent increase in media-reported chemical incidents since 2022, when the coalition recorded only 189 disasters.
Recent Posts
Ecuador Rejects Foreign Military Bases
Take Action Now People of Ecuador 1 — Military Industrial Complex 0By David Swanson, World BEYOND War In 2007, then-President of Ecuador Rafael…
Step Down, Chuck, A Zero Hour Conversation With Sam Rosenthal
Take Action Now “People are starving for a real, visible fight against Trumpism—and Schumer isn’t delivering it.”By RJ Eskow and Sam Rosenthal,…
Wilson in Seattle and Mamdani in New York Back Starbucks Workers Strike
Take Action Now “I am not buying Starbucks and you should not either.” By Jon Queally, Common Dreams The mayors-elect in both Seattle and…
‘The Trump Administration Needs to Be Isolated in Its Anti-Science Actions’: CounterSpin interview with Rachel Cleetus on climate complicity
Take Action Now Janine Jackson interviewed the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Rachel Cleetus about climate complicity for the October 31, 2025,…