Plans are afoot to build giant new coal terminals on the West Coast to ship this lucrative commodity to China. But activists want to stop this, in part because coal produces huge amounts of carbon dioxide when it’s burned. Federal climate policy is silent on this potentially large source of emissions, so the debate is happening at the local level. …
Environmental Groups Upset About Coal Trains
Environmental groups in the Spokane area are upset with proposals that could see dozens of trains loaded with coal destined for the Far East move through the city every day. They fear that coal dust and increased diesel emissions will damage human health, while increased rail traffic will make for more dangerous intersections, among other hazards. Read full story here.
Letter: Coal the wrong track – Helena Independent Record, Oct. 3, 2011
and community. The impacts to the health and well-being of Montanans will be myriad and substantial. Most apparent is the climate crisis. With the exception of the fossil-fuel industry, which, like the tobacco industry before it, is manufacturing doubt about the harmfulness of their products (oil, gas and, dirtiest of all, coal), people are noticing the “weird” weather accompanying the …
EDITORIAL: Counting rail cars
Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred, one hundred one, one hundred two. The final car, a bulk carrier, rumbled past and the barrier lifted. Until Marysville is once again bisected by the moving wall of BNSF. Read the full story here.
Groups sue Millennium over alleged Clean Water Act violations
Vancouver and Longview citizens groups announced Tuesday they will sue the owner of a proposed coal dock in West Longview, contending that Millennium Bulk Terminals is violating the federal Clean Water Act by handling coal without a permit. Read the full story here.
Cargo terminal proposal part of national debate over jobs, environment
“The jobs are nothing to scoff at,” Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike said earlier this year of the SSA Marine proposal at Cherry Point. But Pike’s attitude changed when he learned what cargo the company had in mind: coal, and potentially 48 million tons of it a year. That coal would end up in China, where it would fuel the blistering …
Port officials say 100 ships per year could take fuel deliveries
Coos Bay might see coal exports, but not from the general-purpose cargo terminal the port would like to build, Oregon International Port of Coos Bay CEO Jeff Bishop told the Port’s commissioners Thursday night. Coal exports would bring too many ships for the cargo terminal to handle, he said. ‘If any coal terminal is developed in Coos Bay, it would …
Coal dust, piles an issue for southeast Newport News
Mayor McKinley Price peered through binoculars on the 10th floor balcony outside his City Hall office, viewing a panoramic landscape of waterfront property dominated by black coal piles. Read the full story here.
Unfair Impact on Marysville
A hot political debate is underway in Whatcom County over a proposal to build a coal shipping terminal. It has a worrisome connection to Snohomish County — and Marysville, in particular — that state officials mustn’t overlook. Read the full story here.
Whatcom County: Gateway Pacific cargo terminal needs new permit
Developers of the Gateway Pacific Terminal must apply for an entirely new shoreline permit if they want to build a facility capable of handling up to 54 million tons of cargo a year, including coal. Read the full story here.
