Peabody Energy Bankruptcy: Shifting Energy Market Cannot Be Ignored

Eric Shew News

Peabody is left with holdings in both the US and Australia with mounting costs and no potential buyers SEATTLE, WA – In the latest setback for the global coal industry, Peabody Energy, Inc., the world’s largest private-sector coal company, announced today that it has filed for bankruptcy. A sustained downturn in both domestic and international coal markets had left the …

With coal prices in steep slide, even once bullish analyst sees risky investment

Eric Shew News

By Lynda V. Mapes , Hal Bernton Seattle Times reporters Coal-export terminals proposed at Cherry Point in Whatcom County and in Longview, Cowlitz County, are irrelevant because Asian coal markets are so weak, according to an industry analyst who has offered some of the industry’s most bullish forecasts. Asian coal markets are so weak that two export terminals proposed for Washington once …

Statement on President Obama and Secretary Sally Jewell’s Moratorium on Coal Leases on Federal Lands

Natalie Jamerson News

Statement from Beth Doglio, Co-Director of the Power Past Coal coalition, on President Obama and Secretary Sally Jewell’s moratorium on coal leases on federal lands Contact: Kimberly Larson, 206-388-8674 “On the heels of collective climate action in Paris and Arch Coal declaring bankruptcy, this moratorium is yet more writing on the wall that it’s time to get off coal once and …

Study finds coal trains emit nearly twice the pollution as freight trains

Natalie Jamerson News

UW study in the Columbia River Gorge also finds 1 in 20 coal trains is a “superduster” November 23, 2015: Coal trains emit nearly double the amount of pollution compared to freight trains, according to a report released by the University of Washington today. The results of the study confirm what Gorge landowners, tribal fishers, and recreationists have observed firsthand …

POLLING: Strong Majority of Washington Voters Oppose Coal Export Proposals

Becca Shew News

Results confirm significant increase in statewide opposition as regional ad campaign begins. LONGVIEW, Wash.–A broad majority of Washington voters across the political spectrum opposes proposals to ship coal by rail for export overseas, according to new results from a telephone survey of 1,200 voters. Significantly, opposition has grown by 18 percent since 2012, and 40 percent strongly oppose the proposals—far …

Amid protests, Montana, Wyoming delegation visits Longview coal dock

Natalie Jamerson News

Two competing messages clashed in Longview on Monday: One said a proposed $643 million coal terminal is a way to inject 135 family-wage jobs into a struggling local economy and reduce Asian reliance on “dirty coal.” Another warned the coal terminal is a risky project that would clog rail traffic, introduce new health hazards and worsen climate change. Amid protests, …

Proposed Coal Export Terminal Can’t Proceed in Absence of Rejected Permit

admin News

Tuesday, March 31, 2015 Contact: Meg Matthews, 206.291.5942, meg.matthews@sierraclub.org Brett VandenHeuvel, Columbia Riverkeeper, 503.348.2436, bv@columbiariverkeeper.org PORTLAND, Ore. — The proposed Morrow Pacific coal export terminal faces the latest in a series of disappointments today. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announced that project proponent Ambre Energy can receive its water quality certification only if it also receives a permit …

Zombie coal subsidy returns and gets killed again

Eric Shew News

Call it the zombie subsidy. A $2 million state grant to help a coal export terminal near Clatskanie was killed in a vote by state transportation officials last August. But it refused to stay dead. The request returned to the Oregon Transportation Commission for a second vote Thursday. And for a second time, it was killed. Then-Gov. John Kitzhaber in …

Washington Tribe Wants Feds To Halt Coal Project

Eric Shew News

LUMMI RESERVATION, Wash. — The Lummi Nation issued a letter Monday to the U.S. government seeking to end the project’s permitting process for a coal-shipping project encircled by their Puget Sound fishing grounds. In the letter, the Lummi tribal council calls on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to halt the review of a permit for the Gateway Pacific Terminal …

Northwest tribe calls for halt to coal project review

Eric Shew News

A recent request by the Lummi Nation to halt a federal permit review of the Gateway Pacific Terminal in Bellingham, Washington, sets an important legal marker in the debate over coal exports, according to legal observers and analysts. The tribe, in a Monday letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, asked the government to end its review of the …