No opinion on rail vs. pipeline transport, but I'll note that these two statements are not in disagreement: > Oil is spilled at a significantly higher rate whe

No opinion on rail vs. pipeline transport, but I'll note that these two statements are not in disagreement: > Oil is spilled at a significantly higher rate when transported by rail. > total volume spilled and volume spilled per incident is far greater from pipelines. The oil pipelines can spill more per incident, or spill more total volume in aggregate, yet still spill at a lower _rate_ if they transport a yet-larger volume of oil compared to trains. I've noticed this on arguments for/against the Keystone pipeline: the exact same underlying numbers can be framed in terms of rates or amounts, depending on the motivation of the speaker.