Train Derailment In West Virginia Causes Massive Oil Spill

Train Carrying Over 3 Million Gallons Of Crude Oil Derails In West Virginia. On February 16, a train carrying more than 3 million gallons of crude oil traveling from North Dakota derailed in West Virginia during a snowstorm. Multiple oil tanker cars veered off the tracks and caught fire, spilling oil into a local river tributary. [Associated Press, 2/17/15] 

Fox Used The West Virginia Oil Spill To Push For Construction Of Keystone XL Pipeline

Fox's Bret Baier: West Virginia Train Derailment Renewing Call For Keystone XL Pipeline. On the February 18 edition of Special Report, host Bret Baier used the West Virginia train derailment as an opportunity to highlight the Keystone Pipeline, claiming, “This week's fiery accident involving oil tanker cars derailing in West Virginia is renewing the call for what proponents claim would be a safer, more reliable method of transportation: the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.” [Fox News, Special Report with Bret Baier, 2/18/15]

Fox Has A History Of Exploiting Tragedies To Push For The Keystone XL

Fox Used Gulf Coast Oil Spill To Push For Keystone XL. On the March 24, 2014, edition of Fox Business' Varney & Co., guest host Charles Payne said the recent Gulf of Mexico oil spill would be an “impediment to growing out our fossil fuel industry,” with contributor Tracy Byrnes adding, “You and Sandra [Smith] said it last hour, just do the Keystone Pipeline already, create all these jobs. Enough of this nonsense, these are all distractions, that's all they are.” [Fox Business, Varney & Co., 3/24/14, via Media Matters]

Fox Personalities Pushed For Keystone XL Construction To Weaken Russia During Ukraine Crisis. In the wake of Russia's 2014 occupation of Ukrainian territory in the Crimean peninsula, Fox News personalities advocated for the Keystone XL pipeline to be constructed, saying it would “weaken” Russia. [Media Matters, 3/5/14]

Fox Used Benghazi Attacks To Push For Keystone XL Construction To Reduce Dependency On Imports. On the September 14, 2012, edition of Your World with Neil Cavuto, host Neil Cavuto and his guest, the Consumer Energy Alliance's David Holt, used the 2012 Benghazi attacks to call for more domestic drilling and the construction of the Keystone XL. Holt said that “we've been dependent on [Libya] for way too long,” going on to describe the Keystone XL as a step toward U.S. energy independence. Cavuto added, “A lot of people say, 'Well, we don't want to give any more U.S. aid to these countries [in OPEC], but when we buy oil from them, that's exactly what we're doing.'” [Media Matters, 9/14/12]