Metro councilors voted unanimously Thursday to call on the federal government to study the impacts of coal exports on the Portland region, in advance of proposals to export the fuel from the West Coast.
More than 20 people testified at Thursday's council meeting, the vast majority of whom supported Metro's request for further study of coal transport. Many called on Metro to go further with its resolution.
The coal resolution was sponsored by Councilor Rex Burkholder, who said earlier this week that his primary concern was the potential impact coal trains would have on the region's traffic.
(Sept. 20, 2012)
Coal export, said Friends of the Columbia Gorge field organizer Sam Lockhart, would turn the Columbia River Gorge "into the coal chute of the nation." She said each car of coal can lose up to a ton of cargo as dust and debris during transport.
But Union Pacific representative Brock Nelson said rail transport is the safest, most environmentally responsible way of moving freight in the U.S. He called on the council to reject Burkholder's resolution.
"It is clear that the issue of exporting coal has become an energized, emotional subject in Portland and in the Pacific Northwest region," Nelson said. "Wherever you stand on the issue of exporting coal for energy production, Union Pacific would ask that when it comes to the topic of rail transport of any commodity – including coal – you look at the facts."
While the resolution called for just that, it was clear that Metro councilors were trending against coal in general. Councilor Barbara Roberts harkened back to her time on the Columbia River Gorge Commission in discussing why she was supporting the resolution, saying she was shocked to think about coal trains rolling through that scenic area.
She said she hopes the federal government "will do a more thorough job of examination than we have seen them do in places like Hanford."
Councilor Carl Hosticka went beyond research and on to principles.
"Regardless of what the impacts are, I don't think we should be enabling the further use of coal on the planet," Hosticka said.
Councilor Carlotta Collette lauded efforts in East Asia to move away from heavily polluting energy sources, and suggested the Portland region has a role in those efforts.
"For the region to facilitate it (the use of coal) by letting it come through here would be a huge mistake," Collette said. "I don't know how huge. I don't know how bad the impacts are. I want to know what they are, and I want to have them quantified."