Northwest Coal Exports

Coal companies want to open up Pacific Northwest ports so that they can supply American coal to Asia. Current plans call for shipping more than 100 million tons of coal each year, roughly 20 times as much as Washington’s lone coal plant burns. There are serious global consequences to burning this much coal. Meanwhile, Northwest communities along railways and near the ports are worried about coal’s damage to their health and quality of life. Sightline’s series examines the coal export proposals in depth, fact-checks the arguments in favor of new terminals, and crunches the numbers on everything from railway congestion to carbon emissions. (Photo by Paul K Anderson, used with permission.)