Originally published in The Washington Times.
Guest post by Steve Goreham
Exports from the Pacific Northwest are an ongoing battleground in the environmental war on coal. Last week, the Sierra Club and three other groups announced that they would file suit against Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway and six coal companies over shipments of coal in open-topped train cars. The announcement is an escalation in the three-year battle to stop new export terminals proposed for ports in Washington and Oregon. Underlying all the rhetoric is a concern that mankind is causing dangerous global warming.
In 2010, Peabody Energy, Cloud Peak Energy, and Australia-based Ambre Energy announced competing plans to build export terminals in the Pacific Northwest to ship coal to Asia, with Arch Coal joining the fray in 2011. Five new export terminals have been proposed. Coal would be shipped by rail from the Powder River Basin coal mines in Montana and Wyoming, loaded on ships at the proposed terminals, and transported across the Pacific Ocean to meet the growing demand for coal in China and Asia. Potential coal exports to Asia are estimated at between 50 and 100 million tons annually. Environmental groups and students have mounted a growing campaign to oppose construction of the terminals and the planned coal exports.
The Sierra Club and other opponents claim that rail transport of coal is responsible for “emitting coal into waterways in many locations across Washington” in the form of coal dust and that this violates the Clean Water Act. They fear that, if the export terminals are built, additional coal trains will add to the problem. “Coal is a toxic pollutant and this action today seeks to stop illegal pollution and keep our river free of dirty coal,” said Brett VandenHeuvel, Executive Director of Columbia Riverkeeper.
Shipping coal by rail and exporting coal is nothing new. In 2011, the US exported 89 million metric tons of coal, up 143 percent from 2002. Most of those exports went through the East Coast ports of Norfolk, New Orleans, and Baltimore to Europe, which is using more coal―not less. Most of this coal was delivered to ports by rail and water pollution has not been a major issue.
Neither is coal dust new. In 1900, coal provided 70 percent of US energy consumption. Factories, railroads, electrical utilities, and home furnaces were powered by coal. During the 1940s and 1950s, fallen snow in Chicago was blackened with coal dust after only a few days. Homeowners washed their walls once a year to remove accumulated coal dust. But thanks to cleaner-burning coal-fired plants and our nation’s shift to natural gas and petroleum, US emissions of coal dust today are at a 50-year low.
While environmentalists complain about coal dust, the real reason they hate coal is their acceptance of the ideology Climatism, the belief that man-made greenhouse gases are destroying Earth’s climate. In 2009 Dr. James Hansen stated, “The trains carrying coal to power plants are death trains. Coal-fired power plants are factories of death.” Environmental groups believe burning coal will cause catastrophic climate change, so “coal dust” is used as an excuse to try to halt coal exports.
But there is no empirical evidence that human greenhouse gas emissions are causing dangerous global warming. Carbon dioxide is a trace gas. Only four of every 10,000 air molecules are carbon dioxide. Ninety-nine percent of Earth’s greenhouse effect is natural, caused by water vapor and natural greenhouse gas emissions from oceans and the biosphere. Global temperatures have not increased for more than ten years, despite a continued rise in atmospheric CO2, confounding the climate models. And despite the furor over Hurricane Sandy, history shows that storms, floods, and droughts today are neither more frequent nor more severe than in past centuries.
Yet, protests against coal in the Pacific Northwest continue to escalate. It seems that “yes we can” works except in the case of export terminals and pipelines.
==============================================================
Steve Goreham is Executive Director of the Climate Science Coalition of America and author of the new book The Mad, Mad, Mad World of Climatism: Mankind and Climate Change Mania.
Discover more from Watts Up With That?
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Hmmm seems like they are right on schedule if you ask me:) Destroy our economy… save the cheerleader? SIGH!!!
Down here in Houston, we are hoping that the enviros prevail in the Pacific Northwest. Plans are already afoot to build a massive coal port on Pelican Island in Galveston Bay. The idea is that if the coal cannot be shipped west then it can be shipped South and East to Texas and then to China via the Gulf of Mexico and the soon to be completed expansion of the Panama Canal.
Fine, send everything through New Orleans or Houston, especially with the Panama Canal widening project due to be completed by 2015.
Same for the Vancouver area. I think I gave this link last month.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/robertson-wants-to-prevent-expansion-of-coal-export-infrastructure/article9564922/
Well the Daubert hearing should be interesting to sy the least. Wonder if they will put up Hansen and Mann to ‘prove’ mann-made global warming is escalating and caused by CO2?
Ok on second thought I have my doubts that even Mann’s hubris reaches that far.
And iirc, something isvscheduled for tomorrownin Mann v Nat Review & Steyn et al. Mann may be gunshy by the time this reaches court!
The actual issue is aerosols and the Asian Brown Cloud, which of course impact both insolation and precip here in the West Coast. The more coal we ship the colder and wetter are our conditions.
” “Coal is a toxic pollutant and this action today seeks to stop illegal pollution and keep our river free of dirty coal,” said Brett VandenHeuvel, Executive Director of Columbia Riverkeeper.”
Does he know that anthracite coal is used in water purification plants to purify water so he can safely drink it, or that coal is used to filter the sewage he is producing so that it can safely be returned to the environment, or that activated carbon used in his tap’s water filter is just as likely to be made from that ‘dirty coal’ he is so actively campaigning against?
As a state resident, living in Edmonds, I have filed an open records request with the University of Washington to obtain both data on all trains included in a study, and the methodology for such a study regarding a “train dust study” conducted by the U of Washington, Bothell.
For once, I wish to force an open and thorough means to independently evaluate such studies, which often, seem to morph into results that the green media of Seattle feel ‘better’ about reporting. I intend to make the news editors of both electronic and print media aware of my action shortly. The university office of public records has responded to my request, stating that the expected information will be made available on April 11th, 2013.
I have repeatedly asked the ‘watermellons’ of Edmonds to meet me at track side here, and show me coal dust. They then, disappear, after reading such requests. I have asked these same eco facists to make a factual comparison as to the damage ( cited ) by coal dust versus the damage caused by the over 1,500 point source pollution entities cited by EPA documents AND septic pollution caused by homes ringing the Puget sound, and once AGAIN, they disappear.
The current governor of Washington state is a huge champion of the failed agenda of CO2 caused global warming – I do not look to him to contribute in any way, to a fair and open evaluation of the transport of coal, by train, thru Washington state.
well, i don’t know why my reply “vanished” so will try one more time …
Every grownup should attend at least one Sierra Club meeting to understand the meaning of the term “arrested development”. Truly amazing that these granola powered, Birkenstock footed, Mein Kampf mini-me’s have any credibility.
You can love nature all you want….but despite all the hugging….every tree is one day away from debris. Human laws do not effect insects, tornadoes, lightning, droughts, disease or a host natural ends to mortal organisms. Carbon Dioxide is mandatory for all life….and there are far worse problems than carbon filled choo-choo trains. Why don’t these eco-purists go stand in front of the Chinese filled coal trains and stop the un-scrubbed Chinese generators ? Oh, that would delay their newest iPhones….never mind.
I have submitted an open records request with the university of washington to obtain all data and methodology regarding a “coal train dust” study that, supposedly has been done, by the university of washington, bothell. The open records department of the university has responded that this information will be made available to me on April 11, 2013.
I want to insure that, if this study comes to light locally, in the media, that it’s results will be reported correctly and completely – rather than selectively, regardless of the results. The green media of Seattle have a very selective way of reporting climate and related news here. I intend to put the news directors and editors on notice.
The current governor of this state is a champion of the failed agenda of CO2 caused global warming. I don’t see him contributing anything that is “fair and open” with regard to the transport of coal thru Washington.
When you ask the ‘water melons’ of Edmonds, WA to actually locate and point out coal dust along the tracks thru this city, they disappear.
These people don’t realize that they are down wind from China and that they’d be better off if China burned the cleanest coal available. Instead, they want China to burn dirtier coal?
The war against coal causes some collateral damage:
GE to Cut Back Trains
Pennsylvania Plant to Lose 950 Jobs, as Some Go to Texas
By KATE LINEBAUGH
General Electric Co. GE +2.25% plans to cut 950 jobs at its unionized locomotive plant in Pennsylvania and shift one-sixth of the employment to a newer facility in Texas, citing weaker North American locomotive demand due to falling coal prices.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324504704578413034136398490.html
Apr 10, 2013, 7:07am EDT
GE locomotive plant plans to cut 950 jobs in Erie
http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/blog/morning-edition/2013/04/ge-locmotive-plant-plans-to-cut-950.html
Canvas covers? Relatively cheap and reusable. Cheaper than lawyers?
My dad, during the depression followed coal trains, along with other kids, picking up coal that had “fallen” from the cars.
It is grossly unfair that the U.S. has more protesters per capita than any other country, especially China. To remedy this injustice, we need to immediately begin the redistribution of protesters to other countries. Just one protester per shipload of exports is all I ask. (Sending more than one would be nice except for the increased risk of breeding more of these vermin.)
Gotta agree with Jardinero1, but for a different reason. I work in the oil and gas biz, and every move that hurts coal just ups the demand for oil and gas that much higher and raises the demand, and thus raises the prices which are putting our industry back into boom time. I don’t support doing this, but it’s hard to feel too badly about the fact that a group of fools who don’t like me or the people I work worth are buttering my bread for me every day.
I wonder what they would say if they knew how happy they were making us oil and gas people?
It was always inevitable I suppose, but it is becoming increasingly clear how this will prompted by specific actions, that the real legacy of the AGW hysteria and associated political and business agendas will be the destruction of what used to be known as conservation groups, now transmuted into representatives of Environmentalism as a creed.
It seems inevitable that this will lead to a general abandonment of any commitment to conservation principles at all. Environmentalism is in that sense a parasitic creed, fixed on humanity, which very much expresses the relationship its adherents real – directly dependent or symbiotic – relationship with the natural world which is zero.
Conservation killed by relentless exploitation of the efforts and structures of others by the ultimate consumer class
The coal is dampened before transport in open cars.
Washington should not close its coal plants, so I would rather keep those open than anything else in the world, although we are swimming in hydro. At a meeting recently I was informed that hydro is not catagorized as ‘renewable.’ We have to sell our surplus power from hydro, and also pay for slush funds and worthless wind turbines. What a racket.
“[Former] Washington State Governor Chris Gregoire signed legislation today to close its remaining two coal plants, and will replace them with renewable energy. One plant will close in 2020, the other in 2025.
In the meantime, the legislation requires TransAlta to install additional air pollution control technology in 2013 to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions at its 1600 MW plant. Transalta is also required to contribute $30 million into a community investment fund, which will finance economic development and energy efficiency projects, and $25 million into an energy technology transition fund to support innovative energy technologies and companies in the state.”
“Slush funds” are an Obama tactic too. You know how slush is, it evaporates.
What we all need are politicians with a spine. The great unwashed outnumber the eco-loons yet pollies gravitate to the greenies to garner votes. It really is time for the silent majority, most of whom work and pay taxes , to make their voices heard. After all without the working taxpayer the ecos would have no teat to suckle. As Margaret Thatcher said ” socialism works until they run out of other people’s money”. Enviros survive on the sweat of someone else’s brow. Bit like flies.
“Environmental groups believe burning coal will cause catastrophic climate change, so “coal dust” is used as an excuse to try to halt coal exports.”
Making up noble sounding causes vs being up front with their true objectives is standard operating procedure for all environmentalists. Why? Because if they were up front & honest about their true objectives, they would never get any support except from a few like minded folks. Their hope is to wear down the opposition using these excuses. As long as the coal companies are persistent, they will win the battle, it will just take more time & money.
I have seen this even at a local level where a group of environmental minded folks tried to prevent a local trail system from being built. The trail system had huge community support but they tried to block it using all sorts of arcane excuses but never once had enough guts to actually say they were against the trail system. It was pathetic, but in the end, the majority prevailed & the trail system was built.
The winds of post-tropical storm known as “Sandy” dropped well below the hurricane level before landfall. NOAA has adjusted its reporting methods because of “Sandy”
The damage from Sandy was mostly storm surge on a location with high population and little experience preparing for tropical storms.
Says it all.
Differentiating organisms that are bad (e.g. that cause infection) with those that are good (e.g. bacteria that live in the gut and provide a service) is the key, if society doesn’t manage this is it will get infected, or fade away and die.
Here’s an earlier WUWT thread, from July 2012, on protests against coal dust:
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/07/17/hansens-death-trains-now-with-extra-scary-coal-fallout/
Interesting – yet another attack on the economies of scale. The intention is to make coal unprofitable to ship since it would be impossible to show any actual harm done in court. If an activist wishes to ban a product they advocate regulations that make the produce unprofitable. Don’t ban guns, for example – make ammunition unaffordable. Make guns unaffordable too by requiring crazy high liability insurance. Years ago in Washington state the loonies were protesting against the white “nuclear death trains”. We’re no stranger to death trains 🙂
http://digital.lib.washington.edu/findingaids/view?docId=GroundZero5336.xml
This trend is becoming both obvious and interesting.