Elections, Clean Water Act Challenge and Anti-coal Zombies

As this article goes to press the all-but-certified uncertainties of the Nov. 8 election seem resolved: Christina Maginnis narrowly lost in her challenge of incumbent Whatcom County councilperson Sam Crawford, and Kelli Linville succeeded by a very narrow margin in her challenge of incumbent Bellingham mayor Dan Pike. Each outcome has consequences related to the future of the Cherry Point coal terminal proposal and a dramatic increase in coal trains to serve it as well as ongoing issues over inappropriate and harmful development in Bellingham and the county.

The Whatcom County Council will play a crucial role in the final decision of whether SSA Marine’s Gateway Pacific Terminal (GPT) anticipated permit application will be approved. The City of Bellingham under Pike’s mayorship played an important role in recent months in bringing attention to this issue among other likely affected cities which brought attention to state and federal bodies of the need to widen the scope of environmental impact studies beyond the Cherry Point site itself. Maginnis’ council presence could also have positively affected a transfer of lands in the Lake Whatcom watershed to the county for a park as well as several other key land use decisions.

Bellingham journalist Floyd McKay, in his Nov. 16 crosscut.com posting, wrote: “… few expect Linville to be as vocal in opposition as Pike.”

While former Lynden mayor Jack Louws trounced his coal terminal supporting opponent Doug Ericksen, it is not clear yet whether Louws will direct planning and environmental staff under his authority to do more than find ways to let SSA off the hook when they are caught illegally clearing land—which was what happened under the former county executive who had pledged to do more than “a slap on the wrist,” while, in effect, giving SSA a carefully crafted shrug of his shoulders—not even a “tickle on its wrist.” What he might do about the proposed transfer of lands park in the Lake Whatcom watershed enivornmental and growth management issues also is an open question.

It is unclear what Kelli Linville’s actions will be on SSA-GPT. Her professed “opposition to coal export” and a “single purpose terminal” are equivocal enough to make many wonder whether she will support SSA-GPT’s current proposal for a terminal 88 per cent dedicated to coal and 12 per cent to other commodities. She probably will not continue Pike’s effort to unite other mayors along the tracks. Will she direct staff under her authority to work to widen the scope of the EIS to include any and all impacts on Bellingham? Or will she shrug her shoulders and leave it to the county and state and feds?

Her core supporters appear to have been a loose amalgam of Old Dems, labor, conservatives, a variety of persons who had axes to grind against Pike (including disgruntled city personnel), red-light camera haters, and feminists eager for the first woman mayor. Will this coaltion hold together if she supports SSA-GPT or benignly neglects any opposition to it? Also of concern will be her allegiance to developer-supporters such as her campaign manager Ted Mischaikov, distinguished as a persistent promoter of such questionable projects as the urban growth boundary busting conversion of the Caitec golf course and the Fairhaven “Faulty Towers” resisted by that neighborhood.

While it is difficult to play armchair analyst until all the voting data, especially at the precinct level is analyzed, it does appear that coal was a less important issue the further from the tracks one lived (see Floyd McKay, Nov. 10 below)—although there were several other additional factors in play; and the younger generations once again proved their disinterest in such mundane activities as voting by sitting on their hands up on the hill and elsewhere in town. It will be interesting to analyze this vote, the compounding issues of red-light cameras and the Fairhaven Highlands acquistion and the possible impact of the State of Washington’s Department of Motor Vehicles neglecting to notify election authorities of the address changes of over 21,000 voters. A few hundred students voting here, a few hundred motor voters there and perhaps a different outcome?

The noise of the election has to some extent taken away from the importance of RE Sources dogged opposition to the SSA-GPT proposal. As noted in the previous issue of Whatcom Watch (Oct-Nov 2011), RE Sources filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue SSA-GPT for its unpermitted wetlands and forest clearing violations of the federal Clean Water Act. It should be more difficult for the pertinent state and federal agencies to shrug this violation off as easily as Whatcom County has. In their press release RE Sources documents at least two examples of similar land clearance violations, one in which the developer had a DNR permit for clearence, which were not legally permitted by Whatcom County and led to a six year moratorium on development imposed on them by Whatcom County as penalty. The county has refused to take any meaningful action in relation to SSA’s illegal clearance. RE Sources wisely turned down SSA-GPT’s offer to “settle” this issue and has stayed with its challenge. Please keep your eyes on http://blog.r/e-sources.org for further news.

Given the complexities and uncertainties in the aftermath of the Nov. 8 election it is very important that active citizens maintain engagement in the coal terminal and coal trains issues. It is important to push our elected officials to do the right things as this issue progresses and it is vitally important to support efforts such as those of RE Sources and its Power Past Coal coalition partners. And please support the only environmental monthly in our region which is closely following such issues; the Whatcom Watch. … Come to think of it it’s the only environmental monthly in our region — all the more reason to support it!

For previous coal-related articles and background information see Whatcom Watch issues for April, August, September and October-November 2011 at whatcomwatch.org

A variety of media, blogosphere and related “coal hits” have occurred in recent weeks that are worth examining:

• Nov. 16/Nov. 10: crosscut.com: Floyd McKay: “Coal-export plan survives election cliffhangers: Neither side in the battle over exporting coal to China winds up with clear mandate in Bellingham and Whatcom County elections.” and “How coal-port voting in Bellingham holds lessons for rest of state:” “ … An analysis of city of Bellingham voting patterns reveals the importance of proximity to BNSF rail tracks in building opposition to shipments of coal from the Powder River Basin to Cherry Point. …” (http://crosscut.com/2011/11/16/coal-ports/21563/Coal-export-plan-survives-election-cliffhangers and http://crosscut.com/2011/11/10/coal-ports/21545/How-coal-port-voting-in-Bellingham-holds-lessonsfor-rest-of-state)

• Nov. 6: Bellingham Herald/McClatchy: Curtis Tate: “Coal is king on the rails now, but maybe not forever:” “… While freight railroads have aggressively pitched their environmental friendliness, many environmentalists don’t like the fact that railroads haul half a billion tons of the fossil fuel a year, and that an increasing amount of it is fueling the growth of U.S. competitors such as China. … ” (http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2011/11/06/v-print/2257546/coal-is-king-on-the-rails-now.html)

• Nov. 3: Posted on the website of communitywise.org: Letter (on Washington State Legislature letterhead) to Ted Sturdevant, Director, Washington State Department of Ecology and Pete Kremen, Whatcom County Executive, “Re: Gateway Pacific Terminal Site at Cherry Point;” urging them to “consider the full impact to local communities of statewide transportation of up to 54 million tons of coal,” etc, from: Washington State Senators Kevin Ranker, Jeanne Kohl-Welles, Karen Fraser, Nick Harper, Debbie Regala, Steve Conway, Karen Keiser, Dan Swecker, Ed Murray, Sharson Nelson, Paull Shin, Adam Kline, Maralyn Chase. (www.communitywisebellingham.org/wp.../11/Senators_Letter.pdf)

• Nov. 3: Associated Press: Seth Borenstein: “Biggest jump ever seen in global warming gases:” “The global output of heat-trapping carbon dioxide jumped by the biggest amount on record, the U.S. Department of Energy calculated, a sign of how feeble the world’s efforts are at slowing man-made global warming. … The new figures for 2010 mean that levels of greenhouse gases are higher than the worst case scenario outlined by climate experts just four years ago. … ” (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SCI_CARBON_EMISSIONS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT)

• Nov. 2: realclimate.org: “Keystone XL: Game over:” an interesting in depth discussion of the proposed pipeline south from the Alberta tar sands to refineries and pipeline networks in the U.S. Compares the tar sands global warming potential with the Powder River basin coal deposits. (Thanks to Whatcom Watch’s Helen Brandt for the link) (http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2011/11/keystone-xl-game-over/#more-9280)

• Oct. 31: Bellingham Herald/Associated Press: “Anti-coal group stages “zombie” march on Portland Banks:” “… The direct action environmental group Portland Rising Tide says its “zombie army against coal” marched from the Occupy Portland encampment to two Bank of America branches. It says one of its protesters was accused of putting red corn syrup on the exterior of one branch. The group says it’s upset about bank loans to coal companies.” (http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2011/10/31/v-print/2252309/anti-coal-group-stages-zombie.html)

• Oct. 29: getwhatcomplanning.blogspot.com: Jean Melious: “How is the Gateway Pacific Coal Terminal Like a Cherry Point Herring?” and other highly informative and insightful entries at this blog: “…the coal terminal and the herring do have one thing in common: they’re both slippery and elusive. …”

• Oct. 29: Bellingham Herald: John Stark: “Agencies say they plan an open review of cargo shipping terminal:” “Whatcom County, the Washington Department of Ecology and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were quick to offer reassurances that they plan to conduct an open and transparent environmental review of the Gateway Pacific Terminal project, despite language in a three-agency agreement that seems to indicate otherwise. …” (http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2011/10/30/v-print/2248242/agencies-say-they-plan-an-open.html )

• Oct. 28: crosscut.com: Bob Simmons: “Big Coal meets Cherry Point’s tiny herring:” “Fishers of a certain age will tell you about going after north Puget Sound salmon with a short stop for bait in the waters off Cherry Point. With a vertical array of bright hooks, you could bring up a bucket of herring before your coffee got cold. And the herring bait would always attract a salmon somewhere between Cherry Point and the islands. … something has gone wrong with the Cherry Point herring. Biologists don’t know what it is and disagree over what it might be. Whatever it is caused a 95 percent drop in the population since the late 1970s. … There’s a lot more at stake than a convenient bait shop for sport fishermen. Biologists call the Washington herring a keystone species; they give life to a wide range of sea creatures. …” (http://crosscut.com/2011/10/28/environment/21354/Big-Coal-meets-Cherry-Point-s-tiny-herring)

• Oct. 28: Bellingham Herald: John Stark: “Economists: Cargo terminal would bring fewer construction jobs, slightly more permanent ones:” “… City Council member Michael Lilliquist asked the economists if it would be possible to estimate any negative economic impacts that might result from increased rail traffic through Bellingham, such as reduced real estate values, public expenses at rail crossings, or lost opportunities to recruit businesses that would find the city less attractive. Brewer (a private consultant for SSA) said that kind of analysis was beyond the scope of what SSA had hired them to do. …” (http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2011/10/28/v-print/2246590/economists-cargo-terminal-would)

• October 27: crosscut.com: Floyd McKay: “New study points to jobs from Bellingham coal port:” “Three Bellingham economists Thursday released research supporting a previous study commissioned by Gateway Pacific Terminal, estimating that a proposed new export terminal at Cherry Point north of Bellingham would employ up to 430 “direct” jobs and generate another 843 “indirect and induced” jobs when operating at full capacity. …” (http://crosscut.com/blog/crosscut/20624/New-study-points-to-jobs-from-Bellingham-coal-port/print)

• Oct. 26: NPR: Richard Harris: “In Northwest Town, A Local Fight Against Global Coal:” “ … Coal is a dirty business — the mining, the handling and ultimately the burning. And that is all very much on the minds of people 35 miles across the border in Bellingham, Wash. … ” (Thanks to Whatcom Watch’s Bill McCallum for the link) (http://www.npr.org/2011/10/26/141687537/in-northwest-town-a-local-fight-against-global-coal)

• Oct. 25: crosscut.com: Floyd McKay: “Coal fight takes lead role in Bellingham, Whatcom elections:” “While Bellingham City Hall can play a key role in mobilizing public opinion and pressing for mitigation of the impact of added coal trains (six coal trains a day already run through the city en route to a terminal south of Vancouver, B.C.), the city has no vote on the terminal because it would be outside the city, in Whatcom County on an industrial site that already contains two oil refineries and an aluminum plant. … An attempt to counter the powerful economic argument is being made by a small group of real-estate professionals, who argue that home values in proximity of the railroad lines are already being devalued because of fear that the 18 more daily unit trains will adversely impact property values.” (http://crosscut.com/2011/10/25/coal-ports/21460/Coal-fight-takes-lead-role-in-Bellingham%2C)

• Oct. 20: National Geographic News: Stacey Schultz: “Seeking a Pacific Northwest Gateway for U.S. Coal:” “…Vic Svec, senior vice president for investor relations at Peabody Energy; “Coal is an area where the United States has abundant resources, and we can improve our trade balance by exporting a component of that”. … Author and climate activist Bill McKibben has urged Bellingham to block this new potential avenue for global fossil fuel trade as a last line of defense for the atmosphere. “Powder River Basin is one of earth’s great carbon bombs, and the fuse seems to run through Cherry Point,” he said. … Any effort at Bellingham to hold back China’s coal-burning would be an ambitious one indeed. In 2009, China dramatically reversed its global position from coal exporter to importer.” (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2011/10/111020-coal-port-pacific-northwest)

• Oct. 19: crosscut.com: Bob Simmons: “Cherry Point’s coal debate: new fight on a site with stormy history:” “… In the 1980s, the Chicago Bridge and Iron corporation owned a industrial-zoned shoreline at Cherry Point and planned to build a steel fabrication plant there. … Bob Partlow, covering Olympia for the Bellingham Herald, wrote at the time: “Faced with a project that violated state and local shoreline regulations, the company decided to change the regulations rather than change the project. It turned to the legislature.” (http://crosscut.com/2011/10/19/coal-ports/21414/Cherry-Point-s-coal-debate%3A-new-fight-on-a-site)

• Oct. 13: Rolling Stone: Jeff Goodell: “Climate Change and the End of Australia:” “…Over the course of just a few weeks, the continent has been hit by a record heat wave, a crippling drought, bush fires, floods that swamped an area the size of France and Germany combined, even a plague of locusts. … As Yasi bears down on the coast, the massive storm seems to embody the not-quite-conscious fears of Australians that their country may be doomed by global warming. … Australia remains deeply addicted to coal, which not only provides 80 percent of its electricity but serves as its leading export. Perhaps more than any other nation on earth, Australia is trapped by the devil’s bargain of fossil fuels: In the short term, the health of the nation’s economy depends on burning coal. But in the long term, the survival of its people depends on quitting coal. … ” http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/climate-change-and-the-end-of-australia-20111003

• Sept. 21: crosscut.com: Floyd McKay: “Coal-export plans turn into a running battle:” “… This week a growing coalition is regrouping to widen the scope of opposition in communities all along the roughly 1,100-mile line from the coal fields to the Northwest Washington. The Power Past Coal coalition will directly connect with Pacific Northwest communities that have been targeted by the coal industry as export sites or fear the health and economic impact of new railroad traffic. … At Cherry Point north of Bellingham, SSA Marine and its subsidiary, Pacific International Terminals, began community organizing last year, lining up political support before the plans had been widely aired in Whatcom County. …” (http://crosscut.com/2011/09/21/coal-ports/21320/Coal-export-pl)

Another useful resource, albeit created by those interested in advancing the cause of carbon capture (sequestration) is “The Carbon Capture Report (http://www.carboncapturereport.org/) a free and open service of the University of Illinois devoted to being the preeminent global resource for tracking worldwide perception and developments in Climate Change, Carbon Capture, Carbon Credits, Alternative Energy, Renewable Energy, Green Energy, Biofuels, Geothermal, Hydroelectric, Natural Gas, Nuclear, Solar, Wind, Coal, and Oil.” Compiles and categorizes a wide range of media, research and general information sources.