In response to your editorial (Quebec blast shows we need pipelines) it's important to step back from the events of the last few days and take a look at the facts.

There were regular reports of pipeline oil spills in Western Canada in the period preceding

the tragic events in Quebec. In a single month (June), Enbridge, Kinder Morgan, Apache and Plains All American Pipeline all reported spills.

Oil-industry proponents are using this tragedy to promote oil pipelines. This is similar to tobacco companies' past efforts to say filtered cigarettes were safer than unfiltered. History shows that both products were destructive to our health. It might be true that oil is less likely to spill from a pipeline than railroaded oil. However, pipelines spill more oil overall, about three times as much volume as that from railroaded oil.

In an era of runaway climate change, it's clear that transporting oil, whether by train or pipeline, is a dangerous business. We don't need to choose the lesser of two evils; we need to kick the oil habit for good.

Eoin Madden, Wilderness Committee

Photo: Roy Luck (Flickr)