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An influential Senator yesterday accused oil companies of prevaricating over providing data to American regulators about the safety of crude by rail trains.

In a landmark report to Alberta’s energy regulator, a panel of experts has concluded that odours from a controversial tar sands processing plant are linked to human health impacts.

It has taken some 300 lead scientists three years to collate the evidence. Many other scientists collaborated in the research. Their combined efforts stretch to 2,600 pages, contained in 32 volumes, and have been signed off by hundreds of officials from 115 countries.

An analysis of oil spilled in the transportation process by Oil Change International using data from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Office reveals that the number of spills from crude by rail increased by almost 10 times from 2008-2013.

In the diplomatic fallout from the crisis in Crimea, European leaders are said to be scrambling to reduce their dependence on Russian gas. You cannot negotiate with Putin if he holds all the aces.

Is it not time, with the threat of increasing political and economic instability and the growing risk of climate change, that we finally recognize the costs of fossil fuel dependency are too high?

Sanctions that would make it impossible for Exxon to do business with Russian oil companies such as Rosneft would leave Putin's Arctic dream in tatters. But they would also undermine Exxon's dreams too.

The mayor of Albany, the capital city of New York State, has become the latest elected official of a major American city to demand that the Federal government increase the regulatory oversight of crude by rail trains.