Events

Upcoming Events

The Coal Hard Truth Forum

In the past year we've made major strides towards a coal-free Washington by setting deadlines to get our last coal-fired power plant off of coal. But now our progress is threatened as Big Coal hopes to ship millions of tons of coal through Clark County to send abroad--spewing toxic coal dust and diesel pollution, putting our safety at risk, clogging our railroads, and contributing to climate change the whole way.

Learn more about Big Coal's dirty plans for Washington.

Join us for an evening of speakers, Q&A, and refreshments.

Tuesday, October 25th

7pm to 9pm refreshments served at 6:30 pm

First Congregational Church

1220 NE 68th St.

Vancouver, WA 98665

For questions or to RSVP for the Coal Hard Truth Forum, please contact laura.stevens@sierraclub.org or call 503-238-0442 x305.

Past Events

Sierra Club’s Coal Export Campaign Kicks into High Gear

The Sierra Club’s No Coal Export Campaign started in earnest in the town of Bellingham, where nearly 300 residents congregated at the local high school cafeteria to hear about the proposed coal export terminal at Cherry Point.

Peabody Coal is looking to Cherry Point to become the exporter of Powder River Basin coal to emerging markets in Asia and India.

The proposal seeks to ship 24 million tons of coal out of Bellingham every year spewing toxic coal dust, putting our safety at risk, clogging our railroads and ports, and stoking the climate crisis all the way.

On Wednesday, May 4^th, the Sierra Club along with partner groups, Climate Solutions, FUSE, ReSources, League of Women Voters, and Friends of the Earth held the Coal Hard Truth Forum, which sought to educate the community about the dangerous impacst a coal-export terminal would have on their community. The event was planned and executed by the Sierra Club’s Mt Baker Group, led by chair Llyn Doremus.

Speakers included the Mayor of Bellingham, Dan Pike; Former Whatcom County Planning Commissioner, Jean Melious; along with representatives from various environmental groups, including the Sierra Club.

The crowd was largely against the terminal and Climate Solutions collected 243 signatures to the Governor against the terminal.

All in all, it was a great start to our campaign. We will be doing many more of these in the coming months in communities across the state and along the rail lines.

Report: "Oceans in Trouble" Saturday, March 26

On Saturday, February 26th, Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Richard Feely spoke

at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Vancouver for a forum

entitled "Oceans in Trouble". As one of the world's leading experts on the

growing problem of ocean acidification, Dr. Feely shed light on the

connection between increasing ocean acidification and the absorption of CO2

emissions. This change in the chemistry of the ocean is rapidly changing

marine ecosystems and threatening entire species. While Dr. Feely's

experience as a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has

given him global perspective, his local work at the National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has also informed his understanding of

ocean acidification and its effects on communities at home and abroad. The

event also featured an art showcase by students at Union High School

entitled "I Love Oceans."

Vancouver group at tracks

In Vancouver, volunteer leaders in the local coal group held an event where 20 community members attended an urban outing to see where the coal trains pass through town to carry coal from the Powder River Basin to Washington's largest polluter, the TransAlta coal plant. Each stop along the walk, led by fantastic local Sierra Club leader Rick Marshall, revealed more facts about the impacts of coal on Washington communities and the need to transition TransAlta as soon as possible. One stop afforded an opportunity to talk in more detail about the importance of supporting strong EPA rules and for participants to sign petitions. The final stop provided a strong visual as BNSF trains crawled through an intersection where, if allowed to proceed, thousands more coal trains would pass through Vancouver on their way to a proposed coal export terminal in Longview, Washington to be shipped to Asia to burn. Following the walk volunteers gathered at a local pub for appetizers and conversation about future opportunities with the coal group.

Longview rally

Yesterday, a few of the same local Vancouver leaders supported their neighbors upriver in Longview by attending a rally on the steps of the Cowlitz County Administration building where the Sierra Club and our ally Columbia Riverkeeper supported local leaders in Longview. Over 50 people, local Sierra Clubbers and others, gathered to stand up to Millennium Bulk Logistics and Ambre Energy, the dirty developers who want to build a coal export terminal. Through a legal challenge with our partners, we discovered that Millennium lied to the local residents and County Commissioners about the volume of coal they planned to ship through Longview. This was deliberate deception, intended to hide that the true volume of coal was not 5 million tons, but up to 60 million tons every year. This rally was the product of local outrage, calling out the companies on their lies, and urging Governor Gregoire and County leadership to protect Washington from such dirty business. In front of the sea of signs on the county steps, four local residents led the event and spoke to their neighbors about the lies and staggering local impacts and international implications while drivers passing by honked in support. Local resident Les Anderson spoke about his proximity to the development as well as the assault on the EPA and the need for strong standards to protect our health while keeping dirty coal companies out of any and every community. There was news coverage in the

local paper, the Oregonian, and Portland radio. Full story from the Longview Daily News.

Momentum is building to kick coal out of the Northwest for good, and block Big Coal from burning it abroad!

Longview-Baron-sign

Click here to view coal train videos.

Earth Day 2011 - Gas Works Park - Seattle

Saturday, April 23rd

Speakers: Mike O'Brien, Seattle City Council; LeeAnne Beres, Earth Ministry; Sean Bagsby, IBEW; Lynn Best, Seattle City Light and Andrew Rose, Sierra Club

Music by MoonGirl and BlueSalt

Earth Day 2011 Gas Works

Group picture

CoolMom and the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign held an event in West Seattle called Paint Past Coal, where we painted a mural depicting a coal free future through artistic expression.

Despite cold temperatures we had a great turnout, including many families, kids and even City Council President, Richard Conlin. We had great food and great music from Michael Caulfield and Moon Girl. We got some local press and got over 60 petition signatures to Obama asking him to protect the EPA from recent assaults from Congress.

We had a great press conference with Richard Conlin, Terri Glaberson of CoolMom, and Sierra Club representative, Robin Everett.

The mural was created by awesome Sierra Club activist, Charley Danner, and the public had a great time making it their own with vivid colors and creative decorating. It will be delivered to Senator Nelson from West Seattle for being a champion of a coal-free future for Washington.

Links to local news coverage:

West Seattle Herald

West Seattle Blog