I’m a resident of San Juan Island. Our community would be in danger from the exportation of coal. We would have increased large vessel traffic in our Strait of Juan de Fuca, which would further add the pounding of huge engines underwater, acoustically polluting the waters for orca whales that rely on echo location to find food. Our community relies on the whale-watching business, and this would be affected if the orcas were to die off from lack of food. Overfishing and pollution have affected the salmon, and all we need is one more thing to drive them over the brink of sustainability.
Ocean acidification is killing off vast amounts of food for our marine life. Carbon-dioxide pollution is the main source of ocean acidification. And guess what a large source of carbon dioxide is? Burning coal. Coal causes disease, emits mercury, contributes to climate change, wastes water, pollutes seafood and destroys mountains.
Please do not permit this coal terminal to be built. We cannot continue to further degrade the environment without consequences. There are nonpolluting energy sources — such as tidal generators, which use the natural flow of ocean water to power our needs without polluting — that must be considered. Listen to the people, not the big corporations wanting a profit at any cost. We are on the brink. Do the right thing for future generations.
Nina Le Baron
Friday Harbor
