17 Feb 2004 Ignore Greenpeace on Homeland Security

Our Bonner Cohen has a thoughtful piece on Tech Central Station on a proposal Greenpeace is pushing that Bonner believes is dangerous.

Greenpeace wants trucks and freight trains carrying chemicals banned from Washington, D.C., and is pushing the D.C. city council to enact a ban. Bonner says:

…rerouting freight trains with tank cars away from Washington is a bad idea.  It would force them to travel a greater distance and actually increase the statistical possibility of an accidental chemical release.  The risk of a chemical release, whether by accident or as a result of a terrorist attack, would simply shift from one community to another.

Bonner also notes that some harzardous chemicals, such as those that purify drinking water or the chlorine-based antibiotic Cipro, are “critical assets in the war on terrorism.” As Bonner put it:

No one knows when or if there will be another anthrax incident in Washington or elsewhere. What we do know, however, is that adequate supplies of Cipro need to be on hand just in case. And you can’t send Cipro over the Internet.