By now, everyone has heard that Jeff Bishop is working toward coal exports as a way to restore record ship calls to the now obsolete and stubbornly behind the times Port of Coos Bay. The dangers of pinning its hopes to yet another extractive industry with known carcinogenic and health effects and the restrictive global warming regulations associated with coal have to be obvious, even to Bishop. Well, they would be if he thought beyond the development stage, the “just make a deal” phase of economic development and extended to the long term operation and practical side of perpetuating a dinosaur industry.
Its funny that NY City mayor, Mike Bloomberg should pledge $50 million to fight coal and a Longview port turns up its nose at coal the same time the Port of Coos Bay effectively says, “Hell yeah, bring that dirty, filthy stuff here. We ain’t proud, we’ll do anything for a handful of labor jobs.” Meanwhile, the developers, brokers and lawyers will all take a hefty fee for putting the deal together.
Coos County already has an unusually high cancer rate often attributed to the free use of chemicals by companies like Weyerhaeuser and GP. What the Port management lacks more than anything else, besides a conscience that is, is imagination. They are simply incapable of visualizing or imagining a thriving port of the future.
Read Jeff Goodell’s Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America’s Energy Future
Has Crucifixion on old railroad ties been considered as an option to rectify Portal ignorance… Recycle the railroad spikes.
So let me get this straight: Our benevolent and wise Port of Coos Bay Commissioners are once more pushing their born-again, 19th century agenda by promoting the export of coal through our port. Coal will be strip mined somewhere inland and transported thousands of miles to our bay where it will be transshipped on a separate terminal (not the still-in-the-works Maersk enterprise??) to China where it will be fuel for electric plants whose global warming effects and pollution will return to us on the westerly trade winds almost as fast as the plastic junk it helps produce will reach our mighty marts.
Of course, this fits right in with the vision of a costly railroad remodel that will restore the Coos Bay spur to its 1915 glory of ten MPH trips to Eugene and back.
Right across the street will be the new LNG export processing plant which will ship fracking produced natural gas, a natural twin to coal; and another environmental disaster in the making.
And this is all somehow going benefit Coos County.
I say take the tax payer dollars, the millions that have been spent in supporting these agencies and their job manifesting machinations and spend it on our schools, streets, and infrastructure. We would all benefit then, not just the ruling appointees.
Good posts, thanks all.
This is an amazing thing to see isn’t it? This Port. And now the grand plan to move Coos County into the 21st century , other than to ban small wind turbines, is coal and gold strip mining their coastal lands. And having not one, not two, but three Messerlies on the public dole in this county. Yup, that and the Chamber of Consorts and their “committees” or as I call them, Scheduled Circle Jerks, this county will charge forward !!!!!
And this happens decade after decade and hundreds of millions of dollars flow into the pockets of the royalty of this county. Look around former workers of amaraka, and look at those on your streets, they’re trapped in an endless cat and mouse game to arrest panhandlers and drunks , knowing they ain’t got no money, but it’s free inmate labor for months on end. I just figured that out today, upon hearing of another alcoholic arrested for riding a bike drunk.
Figure the county gets another stoolie to pick up trash. Win win right?
I’m rambling here, but man oh man are things about ready to pop.
Its all about the dollars they line their pockets with. These people might seem real nice if your a friend of theirs, but to the rest of us they are traitors to the public trust.
When your income depends on bilking the public out of their tax dollars, you must have to squeeze your conscience into your back pocket, further back than your wallet.
The part that gets me is Bishop knows how bad gas extraction is for the people who live near the wells. He knows how bad coal extraction is for the water tables near the mines, but he doesn’t care
It has not been but a few years since the previous commissioners dallied with the idea of mining the coal deposits of coos county. This is quite different from that. Its making a dual use rail system out of our antiquated RR. Dirty gas(propane and butane) out, and dirtier coal in. What a racket. That’s not what they where taught in Germany, or Portugal.
Kitzhabers plan at work, These guys and gals didn’t think this up, it was always the plan of their masters, big oil and gas, and coal.
This is what is holding America back, leaders still promoting fossil fuels, and they will continue to do so until they are replaced.