As I headed to the May 24 hearing on the Longview coal export terminal, I found myself asking “How is this still a thing?” For generations Washingtonians have fought, protecting our natural resources. Funneling filth for a dying industry has no future for our community, or for Washington.
All this energy spent on closing the door on a failing and archaic way of life would be better spent on choosing a better path forward. The wasted time that these outsider corporations take up in our local government meetings can never be recovered for the other issues we need to address.
With all that is known about climate change, there is no debate. However, if you don’t care about breathing and quality of life, what about the expense? The cost of lost tourism and local businesses. This will cost more long-term secure jobs than those promised with the temporary dangerous jobs they offer.
The cost of the cleanup and containment for the constant messes of the big oil and coal corporations are always taxpayer paid, and are rarely cleaned up completely or contained.
