In the Pacific Northwest, there is a battle going on between shipping, rail and energy company interests and environmentalists over the possibility of opening coal export terminals in Vancouver, BC and Cherry Point, Wash. Cherry Point is just up the road from me in Bellingham.
The Seattle Times did a front page story on the "Coal Quandary" in a recent Sunday edition. According to the report, the project would bring 125 car loads of coal from Montana on the railway to Cherry Point every day. The coal would then be sent to China in ships. If the two companies hoping to ship coal from Washinton get permission, it would more than double U.S. coal exports.
Environmentalist concerns include the fact that Washington state is currently working to close it's two coal fired burners to reduce its own carbon footprint. Becoming the nation's number one exporter of fossil fuels through this project would be antithema to the effort to manage climate change.
But if China doesn't get coal from us, it will get it from another country. An energy expert sited in the story said Washinton state's decision on the controversy won't impact how much coal China does or doesn't burn.
SSA Marine, one of the companies hoping to ship coal from Cherry Point, said 120 jobs would be created during construction of the project and 70 family-wage jobs would be created to run the dock. That's significant for a small area like Bellingham and Whatcom county.