Environmentalists have made coal's US future cloudy. Answer? Ship it overseas.

[wtmusic]

"Exporting coal from Montana and Wyoming’s Powder River Basin to markets around the world by way of shipping terminals in the Pacific Northwest is shaping up to be one of the next big environmental fights.

Currently five export terminals are proposed for Oregon and Washington, which would also require additional infrastructure like new coal trains running from the interior West to the coast.

There is serious money to be made from shipping coal abroad. As David Roberts at Grist pointed out: “the health of the U.S. coal industry hinges on its ability to increase exports to China and India.” So it’s no surprise that the coal, rail, and shipping industries spent nearly a million dollars in one month on television ads supporting the construction of coal export terminals."

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/10/31/1098531/exclusive-coal-export-lobby-spends-big-on-ads-promoting-shipping-taxpayer-owned-coal-abroad/

[NoOneMan]

1. If only we can capture the hurricanes' energy to use for mining & shipping coal

Think of all the money to be made

[EconomyInCrisis]

2. Spam deleted by bluesbassman (MIR Team)

[My Good Babushka]

3. It's the low price of natural gas

that is making coal less attractive. Neither of them are exactly environmentally friendly.

[limpyhobbler]

4. U.S. Coal Exports On Pace To Hit All-Time High, Fueling Surge In Global Warming Pollution

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/10/23/1072041/us-coal-exports-on-pace-to-hit-all-time-high/