Scholars may never understand the energy source’s full economic cost, but that doesn’t make its damage any less knowable.

Eric Shew News

In Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See, a radio broadcaster marvels at the wonder of coal: Consider a single piece glowing in your family’s stove. See it, children? That chunk of coal was once a green plant, a fern or reed that lived one million years ago, or maybe two million, or maybe one hundred million. Can you imagine …

World Bank rejects energy industry notion that coal can cure poverty

Becca Shew News, Uncategorized

The World Bank said coal was no cure for global poverty on Wednesday, rejecting a main industry argument for building new fossil fuel projects in developing countries. In a rebuff to coal, oil and gas companies, Rachel Kyte, the World Bank climate change envoy, said continued use of coal was exacting a heavy cost on some of the world’s poorest …

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 …

Cherry Point coal terminal would harm salmon, Lummi way of life

Allison Roberts News

Someone once told me that anything can be accomplished if you just have enough time and money. But for many people and communities, including Lummi, currency is something far more valuable than a dollar bill. Salmon is our most important currency; it’s the lifeblood of our people and always has been. Our job is to ensure we have enough salmon …

Letter from the Chairman of the Lummi Nation

Allison Roberts News

To Those Assembled: For generations, tribal peoples have witnessed the impact of faceless ‘persons’ — corporations –on the lands, water, air, and human and environmental health. Though at times consulted, we have not been heard as a real voice in defending our traditional homeland territories. Instead, we have seen the degradation of our land and water, our traditional foods and medicines, and …

Coal trains kill Cold Trains: Fruit delivery service shuts down as rail congestion heats up

Allison Roberts News

Congestion from coal and oil trains seems to be the key factor forcing closure of a prominent express rail service that carries Washington fruit and produce to East Coast markets. Cold Train on Thursday announced it is shutting down its express service from Quincy, Wash. because restrictions in the BNSF Railway schedule changed delivery guarantees from three days to six …

Study Tallies Economic Risks Of Oregon Coal Export Project

Allison Roberts News

A study released Thursday by coal export opponents tallies the economic risks of barging coal down the Columbia River –- from the cost of killing salmon and emitting air pollution to increased accidents and impacts to recreation in the Columbia River Gorge. The report’s author, Ecotrust economist Noah Enelow, suggests that the project’s benefits might not be worth the risks of building …

Report finds BLM coal policy out of date

Allison Roberts News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 4, 2014 FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: L.J. Turner, (307) 939-1393; Steve Charter, (406) 947-2151; Shannon Anderson, (307) 672-5809, Powder River staff; Larry Winslow, Northern Plains staff, (406) 248-1154; and Kevin Dowling, WORC staff, (406) 252-9672. Report finds BLM coal policy out of date Coal export market analysis is generic and superficial Coal leasing program lacks oversight …

Longview Coal Port Skeptics Want Thorough Study

Allison Roberts News

Inland Northwest residents turned out in force in Spokane on Wednesday evening to persuade officials that a proposed West Side shipping terminal’s potential environmental impacts reach far beyond its site on the lower Columbia River. “The environmental impact statement should include environmental impacts in Spokane,” Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart told representatives of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, …