Coalition Appeals Dredging Permit for Coos Bay that Would Pave Way for Coal Export

Allison Roberts News

A coalition of local residents, grassroots environmental and clean-energy groups appealed the dredging permit in part due to concerns about the harmful impacts on Coos Bay waterways that serve as salmon and oyster habitat that in turn support commercial and recreational fisheries. The permit authorizes the single largest dredging project in an estuary the state has ever approved. Oregonians are …

Rail yard neighbors concerned about coal dust

Allison Roberts News

Lowell Chandler held up the palms of his hands so members of the Missoula City Council and the public could see the black smears from his home near the rail yard. Chandler had rubbed his hand on a railing before speaking Wednesday at a Public Safety and Health Committee meeting about the way train operations and the rail yard affect …

Less Coal in Our Stockings?

Allison Roberts News

The U.S. EPA’s announcement of new standards for mercury, lead, arsenic and other air toxics from major coal and oil-fired power plants is, as David Roberts puts it, a really big deal. Coal plants are the world’s largest sources of mercury and other toxics; burning coal is the biggest source of global warming pollution. Coal-fired power is flat-lining in the …

Guest Opinion: Lummi Nation reviewing proposed deep-water port terminal

Allison Roberts News

Lummi Nation and its members rely on land at Cherry Point and the adjacent marine waters for commercial, ceremonial and subsistence fisheries necessary to perpetuate the Lummi schelangen (“way of life”). Our ancestors made sure that our right to fish and gather at this usual and accustomed site was protected in our treaty with the United States Read the full …

Coal Export Threatens the Northwest

Allison Roberts video

Compelling three-minute video highlights plans to export dirty U.S. coal to Asia.  Local voices from Longview, Bellingham, Hood River, and Portland share how coal trains and terminals will harm their communities.  The video captures the filth of coal and the shine of those who know we can do better.  Columbia Riverkeeper teamed with Balance Media to produce the video. Photo …

The Coal Pipeline: In Pacific Northwest, A Local Battle Has Global Fallout

Allison Roberts News

That coal and its potential implications has sparked a fierce fight in this otherwise quiet college town. . .The opposition includes doctors, business owners, ecologists and community activists, who are concerned about harm to the air and water, among other potential health, environmental and economic consequences of both the port itself and the additional 18 trains that would rumble through …