Drawing the Line on Western Coal Exports

So Big Coal never seems to get the message.

When we say “Coal is Over” we really mean it. That means no mountaintop removal coal mining, no coal plants and no coal exports.

Today, RAN joined in Salt Lake City with our friends in Peaceful Uprising, Utah Moms for Clean Air and the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers for a 60 person rally calling on soon to be notorious coal exporter Ambre Energy to stop their development of coal export facilities in Longview, WA.

Jim Cooksey, a representative of the union, had this to say about the protest in Salt Lake City today:

“We are concerned about the exporting of coal to overseas markets in that there are no environmental standards once the coal leaves our borders. The International Brotherhood of Boilermakers understands the issue of climate change and is looking to secure alliances with other labor and environmental organizations to find solutions that protect workers and the environment.“

This comes on top of a 50 person rally of directly impacted community members held yesterday in Longview, WA calling on the local government to act in the best interests of the community, not out of state coal corporations. They want to permits revoked, as does a growing coalition of environmental and community groups up and down the Pacific Northwest coast.

Last week, it was revealed that Ambre had knowingly deceived officials in Washington about the amount of coal they planned to ship through Longview. They had said 5 tons of coal annually, but recently discovered documents revealed that to only be “phase 1.” “Phase 2″ will be 25 million tons and “Phase 3″ will be 6o million tons of coal annually.

And Ambre knows they are in the wrong. When they got wind of the Salt Lake City protest, they shut their offices down for the day.

It’s time to draw a line in the sand and stop this first coal export terminal. If so, then we’ll make it a lot harder for the others to see fruition.

Filed under: Direct Action It’s Getting Hot in Here is the voice of a growing movement. A community media project, it features the student and youth leaders from the movement to stop global warming and to build a more just and sustainable future.

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