May 9, 2013 – How terribly satisfying to know that yet another coal export terminal planned for the Pacific Northwest will not be developed. Houston-based Kinder Morgan announced it is dropping its plans for a coal export terminal, to be situated near the town of Clatskanie (don’t you love the town names in Oregon and Washington?). Kinder Morgan, a terminal and pipeline operator, investigated options near Clatskanie for 16 months, but never applied for any permits. The intent was to ship coal to Asia from the Columbia River port. The project’s failure to actualize means a reprieve from coal train traffic for Portland. This is the third coal export project to be abandoned in the Northwest. Taken together, the three proposed terminals represented up to $550 million in investment, 305 permanent jobs, and almost 50 million tons of Montana and Wyoming coal. Three more projects await approval. Of the six original proposals, Clatskanie ...
Understanding the global-warming world: causes and ramifications.