In a courageous move that puts him at odds with the president from his own party, Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber is challenging the Obama Administration's policy of supporting a massive increase of exports of American coal, regardless of drastic consequences an increase of coal exports of this magnitude would have for Climate Change.
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber calls for sweeping review of planned coal exports from Northwest ports
By Scott Learn, The Oregonian
Kitzhaber, a Democrat with strong ties to environmental groups that oppose coal export, requested the comprehensive review in a letter Wednesday to the Bureau of Land Management and the Army Corps of Engineers today. He also called for the review in a broader speech on "clean energy" today before the Future Energy Conference in Portland.
Kitzhaber didn't take a stand for or against exporting coal, which supporters say would increase rural jobs and tax revenues.
Instead, his letter asked the federal government to address how increasing exports to Asia will "fit with the larger strategy of moving to a lower carbon future."
“We’re rushing to this huge infrastructure investment without a full national discussion,” Kitzhaber said after the speech. “I think we deserve to have a full debate on this.”
Six potential coal export projects in Oregon and Washington could ship roughly 157 million tons of coal from Montana and Wyoming's Powder River Basin a year, more than double current U.S. exports.
More than doubling US coal exports would have a bigger impact on Climate Change than even the Keystone XL pipeline would,
See: Coal Mega Ports planned for Northwest could surpass CO2 impact from Keystone XL
This isn't just a regional problem for the Pacific Northwest, it is a national and international problem. All Americans have a stake in reversing this stupendous policy blunder by Obama.
Here is Governor Kitzhaber's statement he issued:
“Work is currently under way at many locations in Oregon and Washington to secure the necessary approvals for coal export facilities to ship coal from the Powder River basin to Asia. I have concerns about proceeding in this direction in the absence of a full national discussion about the ramifications inherent in this course of action.
The Environmental Impact Statement that the Department of the Interior is currently relying on to issue leases for coal extraction from public lands in the Powder River basin addressed the environmental effects of transport and use of coal in the mid-western and eastern United States for domestic energy production, but it did not evaluate the effects of coal exports to Asia.
The United States has the largest known coal reserves in the world, and currently exports approximately 80-100 million tons of coal each year. The current proposals in Oregon and Washington could result in an additional 157 million tons of coal exports, more than doubling the U.S. export capacity, with all of this increase going to fuel growth in energy production in Asia.
Most of the as-yet unexamined environmental, health, community, economic impacts associated with this tremendous increase in coal transport to the West Coast would be shouldered by Oregon and Washington. Further, the environmental effects of further Asian coal-fired generation, in terms of air quality impacts on the West Coast of the United States, have not been analyzed. Increases in ozone, mercury, and particulates could have both significant environmental and economic effects in this country, by requiring U.S. industry to adopt additional pollution controls in order to meet air quality standards.
A decision to proceed on this course has profound implications for our nation’s energy security; and for the trajectory of the world’s transition to cleaner sources of energy. If the United States is going to embark on the large scale export of coal to Asia it is imperative that we ask -- and answer -- the question of how this decision fits into the larger strategy of moving to a lower carbon future. In the lack of a clear policy on this point we will simply be deciding by not deciding. We must consider and balance of all the associated economic, environmental and health problems related to such a course of action for the Pacific Northwest and for our country.
To address these important national and regional concerns, today I have asked the Bureau of Land Management and the Army Corps of Engineers to prepare a full programmatic environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Protection Act to examine the effects of coal transport to the West Coast and the use of coal for electricity production in Asia before any further permitting or leasing decisions are made.”
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Governor Kitzhaber has taken a courageous and principled stand for the long term best interests of the people of Oregon and beyond. Kitzhaber will be the target for his decision, and we need to do what we can to support him now, and when those attacks that are sure to come are launched.
I hope that my own Governor here in Washington will join Governor Kitzhaber's call for a national conversation about all the implications of more than doubling U.S. coal imports at precisely the moment when the world urgently needs to sharply cut back its consumption of coal.
Christine Gregoire needs to hear from those of us in Washington on coal exports, and Barack Obama needs to hear from all of us about doubling U.S. coal exports.