Help Save Portlandia (real life Portland, Oregon)!

Portland, America's greenest and most sustainable city, is under threat from a consortium of the world's most powerful coal companies. They are proposing to construct five massive coal export terminals in western Washington and Oregon. These terminals will be collectively capable of shipping 140 million tons of coal a year. All of that coal will be transported by train or barge through the Columbia River Gorge Scenic Area, one of the most beautiful places on Earth and the Portland Metro Area, a city of about two million people. Over a hundred loaded, mile long, coal trains a week will pass through the city with each coal car losing as much as a ton of coal and coal dust along the way. This would quickly transform Portland and the Columbia River Gorge from places of spectacular beauty and livability into a place of polluted water, black smog and unimaginable congestion.

But this is only the beginning of the problems that will be caused by the export of massive amounts of coal through the Pacific Northwest to Asia. Many other towns and cities will be impacted including Seattle. Health and Safety impacts could include prolonged exposure to coal dust, which has been associated with bronchitis, emphysema and toxic heavy metals. Exposure to diesel particulate matter, has been tied to lung inflammation, cancer risk and asthma. Noise pollution, the rumbling and whistles of trains, is not only annoying, but it also has been linked to problems with the nervous system. Delays at rail crossings could hold up ambulances and other emergency responders. Higher rates of train derailments because of the larger number of trains sharing the tracks and coal dust sticking to the tracks is not only dangerous to humans but would likely involve toxic coal spilling into the Columbia River, Puget Sound and other ecologically sensitive areas. Trains already cause forest fires and with the addition of combustible coal dust on the tracks we can expect the number of fires to increase. Not to mention the problems that might be caused in the marine environment by the sinking of a coal barge or ship. Then there are the Global Impacts like climate change and air pollution that can travel back from China over the Pacific Ocean to the Northwest in as little as five days. But what can be done?

The Key is to get the Army Corp of Engineers to do a Programmatic Area Wide Comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for all the proposed terminals, collectively. It is the Corp of Engineers that is tasked with creating an EIS for proposals like the coal export terminals. The problem is that the Corp has the discretion to do very narrow quick Environmental Impact Statements for each terminal proposal separately or an Area wide comprehensive study.  By getting an Area Wide Comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement of all the proposals collectively we will be able to get all the facts on the table and expose the true costs of these proposals before any final permitting decisions are made. The goal of this petition is to get the President to order the Army Corp of Engineers to do a Programmatic Area Wide Comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). It is our further goal to get the President to put a moratorium on the export of coal from the United States to create time for a national debate of the coal export issue.

If you would like to see Portland remain America's greenest and most sustainable city please take the time to join me in signing our online petition to the President at Change.org. Thanks!