Big coal's plan to kill the planet

[pscot]

If you're wondering what you can do to stop global warming, here's a no-brainer: Sign up to fight the proposed West Coast coal export terminals.

"..as the federal government begins its first lengthy review of plans to ship coal through Northwest ports, it's not clear how — or if — the feds will weigh in on perhaps the most far-reaching issue: the potential effect new markets for coal could have on greenhouse-gas emissions.

If each of the proposed terminals, which range from Bellingham to Coos Bay, is built to capacity, Washington and Oregon eventually would export 150 million or more tons of coal a year — half again as much coal as all U.S. exports combined in 2011."

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2018245897_coalexport20m.html



"As the U.S. begins to shift away from carbon-emitting, coal-fired power plants, coal producers are gearing up to ship more of the fuel overseas. Ambre Energy and Peabody Energy are leading the push for west coast export terminals that would open the floodgates for a new coal market in Asia. Advocates for clean energy, the environment, and public health and safety have coalesced to oppose these ports on the beautiful Pacific North West coastline.

Coal export terminals continue the mining and burning of coal at a time when phasing out coal is essential to our health, in building new coal export terminals, the U.S. is exporting our problems, our pollution, instead of solving them with clean energy advancements.



The first proposed new port at Longview has already secured a shore permit, and a second port proposal has been announced by Peabody Coal at Cherry Point, Bellingham.."

http://ran.org/stop-west-coast-coal-ports

You can register your opposition here
http://climatesolutions.org/nw-states/washington/no-coal/no-to-coal-exports

If you want to do more, it's not hard to find an opportunity. Almost every major environmental group is opposed to this planet killing initiative. The longer we wait, the worse it will be. Think of your children and their children. Act now. It's later than you think.

[happyslug]

1. You also will have to work to AMEND the US Constitution or work around it.

Article 1, Section 9, Paragraph 5 says the following:

No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articlei#section9

The Courts has ruled that the above makes it UNCONSTITUTIONAL for the Federal Government to prohibit the export of anything, including coal by the most common way to do a ban, taxing it.

Now, the US Courts have permitted the Congress of the US to put restrictions on the export of items that have national security ramifications (Oil against Japan in 1941, high technology items over the last 20-30 years to Red China and other "Rouge Nations", the big bans were against the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact nations), but NEVER on items that have no military aspects (i.e. coal, wheat etc). These were bans on National Security rationale, but any restriction can be called a tax, and thus unconstitutional, so you have to be careful on getting any such ban adopted.

Just a warning about that little known provision in the US Constitution. A ban should be Constitutional, but if the ban can be called a Tax then it is Unconstitutional.