Over the last five years the Sierra Club, along with our partners, has built up and executed a highly successful campaign to stop the construction of new coal plants and begin the phase out of existing coal plants in the United States. The campaign has provided a shining light in the global campaign to stem greenhouse gas pollution.
In fact, we have shut down over 150 coal plant proposals nationwide and have begun to shut down existing coal plants. Both in Oregon and Washington, the Sierra Club has worked hard with community members, health professionals, moms and dads, the faith community and other shut down the Boardman Coal Plant in OR and the TransAlta Coal Plant in WA.
Our success has forced coal-producing giants like Peabody and Arch to shift their business plans. Rather than feeding an expanded fleet of domestic coal plants, they must find entry to the rapidly expanding coal fleet in Asia. Conversely, Indian and Chinese coal interests have visited West Coast ports as they seek to import Powder River Basin (PRB) coal. It is essential that we stop the expansion of American coal exports to Asia.
The single most important step that we can take to address climate change is to transition away from burning highly polluting coal toward cleaner forms of energy. The potential export of over one hundred million tons of PRB coal annually to global markets would be a devastating step backward, contributing over 200 million tons of CO2 annually to the atmosphere. The shipment of this coal through Western ports would signal a retreat in leadership by the Western states, which have been national leaders in taking meaningful steps to reduce global warming and to build the clean energy economy. Absent a strong national policy, leadership from the states and regions has been and will remain for the foreseeable future a central element of any national comprehensive strategy for climate change and clean energy. West coast leadership will ring hollow if the coal we don’t burn is shipped from our ports and burned in Asia.
Over the course of the next several months and years, we expect a series of major coal export facility proposals to be considered along the West Coast. Ambre Energy, Peabody, Arch, and Coal India have all indicated interest, with Ambre being the first to pursue a permit. A strong coalition of some of the leading state, regional, and national organizations has come together to work on this rapidly emerging issue, led by Climate Solutions, Sierra Club, Columbia RiverKeeper, Earthjustice, Washington Environmental Council, and a growing list of other contributing organizations.
We have already engaged in a series of collective activities together on this campaign, including filing a legal appeal on Ambre’s proposed coal export facility in Longview, WA, and securing a large number of high-profile media stories in top-tier outlets including a front-page story in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, two op-eds in The Seattle Times, and dozens of other hits. We rapidly and effectively responded to an unprecedented visit by Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer to Washington State in a bid to dampen opposition to coal exports. Most recently, we exposed the companies’ attempt to hide the true size of the planned facility and have forced them to the table.
Meanwhile, work on a potential coal export facility at Cherry Point in Bellingham, Washington, is moving ahead rapidly. But the community is in full force trying to stop it.
The Opportunity
The campaign to free the United States from the coal industry’s grip faces significant challenges over the next several years. While the future of the coal industry has dimmed, big coal continues to throttle transformative change that threatens its profits. Failing to engage a battle over coal exports would cede to the industry a new market that will further enrich and empower our chief obstacle to moving our country to a clean energy economy.
This is a battle we can win. New coal export facilities require train access, significant acreage and deep water ports. There are only eleven locations in Washington state that possess these criteria. Within that, there are only a handful of locations where the political climate may allow for siting: we’re unlikely to see a Seattle-based coal export proposal. In fact, three ports have already rejected coal export facilities, and two have signaled opposition. Concerns about challenges by the environmental community have driven these decisions.
Our aggressive work will also create uncertainty among potential investors in export facilities. Additionally, a successful export market for coal depends on keeping costs as low as possible. Driving currently externalized costs into coal exports is another important element in undercutting the economic rationale for exports.
The Solution
Prevent Dirty Projects: stop new coal exports off the West coast
a. Block all terminal proposals by opposing air, water, siting, and construction permits.
b. Support our Montana/Wyoming partners in their efforts to prevent new mining permits in the PRB.
c. Block infrastructure development and routing facilitating coal exports such as rail and port capacity.
d. Increase pressure and accountability around foreign coal companies developing in the PNW by obstructing their financing and investments (corporate accountability, shareholder tactics).