Peabody Energy is the world's largest private-sector coal company. It proudly leads energy access, but its mines are ruining our planet. And all for the company's bottom line. Powder River Basin Resource Council photo.
Yesterday, I nailed a climbing route I’d been tackling for too long, and it felt better than that first beer after a day of skiing. But then I opened my inbox, and that triumph no longer carried the same weight. Something far more monumental went down while I was scaling the wall.
Don’t get ahead of yourselves now – Trump didn’t back out of the presidential race or anything. I guess good fortune comes in pieces; we’ll have to wait for that one. What did happen? The proposal for the monster Gateway Pacific Coal Export Terminal in Bellingham, Washington was shut down. The Army Corps of Engineers axed it, saying that besides negatively impacting the environment and general health, the port would hinder local indigenous tribes' access to fishing waters.
Burning coal was smart in the 19th century, but welcome to the 2000's. We've got renewable energy now. Coal trains no longer need rip through towns. Gateway Pacific Terminal photo.
What does this mean? Winter can stay! Had the gateway been given the go-ahead, we at TGR were going to be bonfiring our skis and boots. Snow was going to be even more on the out. The gateway would have given Asia easy access to Montana and Wyoming’s coal, and they would have burned it like no other, putting snow sliding, among other things (tourists' desire to visit the towns along the coal train routes, and the lives of fish, to name just two) to bed.
Running on renewable energy is possible; Vancouver just announced its commitment to run on 100% renewable energy by 2020. Protect Our Winters photo.
What I want to say is thank you to those who fought this coal terminal. Thank you for opposing the coal industry’s reckless pursuit of profits at the expense of our climate. Thank you for fighting for our health and our future. Thank you for cooking your dinner, not the planet.
RELATED: World leaders signed onto major climate change action in NYC today
Sure coal helped build this great country, and it helps many Wyomingites and Montanans put food on the table, but the party’s got to end at some point, and the sooner the better. It’s time for the now-detrimental industry to pass the baton. Solar’s already taking hold, and wind’s right there, too. Trump might think climate change is a hoax and that windmills are destroying shorelines, but the planet's demise is tangible, and renewable energy is our key to stopping the downward spiral.
Supporters of the Gateway Pacific Terminal fear unemployment, but wind power's on the rise, and the mills aren't going to build themselves. Gateway Pacific Terminal photo.
Overall, good job connecting the dots. Not everyone understands the more coal you burn, the warmer it gets, and the less it snows. Snowpack is down 20% almost entirely across the board, and, even more nightmarish, had the gateway gone into development, snowpack in the western U.S. could have dropped between 25 and 100% by 2100. That’s frightening.
Saving snowsports and its $67 billion industry aside, shutting down the proposal and keeping coal under ground means we can continue to enjoy fresh water, cut down the rates of asthma and cardiac problems (illnesses aggravated by metal-heavy coal dust), and see the PNW's tourism and indigenous tribes prosper.
The list doesn’t stop there, but the bottom line is we’re seeing the big picture. Three cheers to us, and to not turning Washington’s charming towns into blah truck stops.
Some argue greenhouse gas emissions can't be tied to export projects. Bonkers! Vessels transporting coal from America to Asia produce gross global consequences. Gateway Pacific Terminal photo.
Community is worth way more than profits. Snow is worth way more than profits. And don’t get me started on when you combine community and snow. That’s one killer combo. So here’s to the Army Corps of Engineers, Protect Our Winters (and their partners, Snocru and K2 Sports), the Lummi Nation and Power Past Coal coalition, and communal doggedness. Here’s to standing up for clean air and water. Part of the battle is over. Just one more proposed port remains. Let's shut that down, too. Your voice matters.
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May 12th, 2016
It looks like the reasons for denying the port are all very valid. I’d just like to point out that coal is also used to make steel (there are two types metallurgical coal and thermal coal). So while there are already alternatives for power generation there are not commercially feasible methods for producing steel without metallurgical coal.