Bob Rees, Northwest Guides & Anglers Association

But the tides are turning.

Yet another energy company, Kinder Morgan, has just today pulled the plug on their plans to use  the Northwest to export Powder River Basin coal on the world market.

This fight, however, is far from over. Of the roughly 150 millions tons of coal proposed to be shipped through the waters of the Northwest, over 80% is still on track for being permitted.

“We won’t rest until all the coal companies quit polluting the waters that our fisheries depend on. Our community depends on salmon jobs and our families depend on healthy seafood. We’re fighting for survival, globally and locally.”
-Bob Rees, President of the Northwest Guides & Anglers Association

Join the fight to protect Northwest fish and wildlife from dangerous coal export proposals.

Michael O’Leary of Portland, Oregon is an Outreach Consultant for National Wildlife Federation working on coal export and renewable energy issues in the Pacific Northwest, where he’s been a political organizer for over 15 years. Michael is a certified cycling instructor and a certifiable bike enthusiast, and can often be found on two wheels, rain or shine.

Following Montana’s administrative laws and regulations, department staff did their job and rejected Arch Coal’s application in early April of this year, sending a 41-page deficiency notice to the company.

Mike Rowland, Arch Coal’s Montana Director speaking in Lame Deer, MT at a public hearing on the proposed Otter Creek coal mine.

Words and phrases used over and over again in the deficiency notice include: must be submitted, inadequate, misleading, mis-represented, contradictory, not acceptable, unacceptable, inconsistencies, missing CAD data, correct this information, incorrect, discrepancy, unclear, correct this statement, confusion, does not adequately address, resubmit, inappropriate, insufficient, error, improper, missing, DEQ does not agree and cannot be verified. I’m not taking these words out of context. Read it for yourself. These phrases and words were used consistently in the document referring to Arch Coal’s data or analysis of the data.

Arch Coal will argue that it is common for mining permit applications to be returned to the company for more details or for minor reworking of the document. This is true.

What isn’t common, in Montana at least, is for a mining company to change the language of the laws and administrative rules in their permit application to “lessen their commitment.”

Yeah, they did that.

Rewriting Montana laws

Now, either Arch Coal has people working for them that are not qualified to produce a permit application or they intentionally changed the language of the regulations to see if they could slip one by the state of Montana and lessen their responsibilities to the land, water, air and citizens. Arch is used to working in Wyoming so my hunch is it’s the latter of the two.

On page 24 of the deficiency notice, Department staff write,

It appears that in some instances, OCC (Otter Creek Coal Co.) recites the applicable rule verbatim, and in other instances, modifies or omits rule language.

Then again on page 24, DEQ states,

OCC has again added the qualifier, “where feasible” to the permit language in the following paragraph (17.24.631(3)(b). OCC’s version of ARM 17.24.631 is not acceptable and must be modified: there is no ‘where feasible’ provision in the rule.

And on the final page there is one last sentence from Environmental Quality staff,

DEQ has noted that OCC has changed the language of the rules throughout the application to lessen the commitment required by the rules. As a reminder, OCC will be held to the standards set forth in the ARM l7.24.XXXX first and foremost, before the commitments in the permit application.

Where Feasible?

I think it is important to take a moment and think about what they did. It is something that takes a level of arrogance that is almost unimaginable to the average person. But then again, when you are acting on behalf of a large corporation like Arch Coal — with its numerous subsidiary companies — and no individual has to actually take responsibility for the actions of said corporation, I guess any discomfort at breaking rules gets dispersed among enough people that it is no big deal.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could just follow laws “where feasible.” Oh, I’m sorry officer, I was speeding through a school zone because slowing down just didn’t seem feasible.

What else is mind-boggling is that the small article in the Montana newspapers about the deficiency notice stated that Montana regulators were just asking for more information about the mine. The article completely ignored that Arch Coal didn’t submit entire required sections of the permit and rewrote Montana’s administrative rules.

It is understandable that Arch Coal is in a hurry. Port proposals to export coal to Asia on the west coast are dropping like flies and they don’t have a domestic market for their coal. They are in a race against time, history and the citizens of southeastern Montana, and Arch Coal is losing.

Thank the Montana Department of Environmental Quality staff

If you have a moment go ahead and send a thank you to the staff at the DEQ who did such a great job reviewing Arch Coal’s permit application.

DEQCoal@mt.gov

Last week, during a three-day meeting in Lame Deer, Montana, hosted by the Surface Transportation Board (STB) concerning the proposed Tongue River Railroad, I came to the unsettling conclusion that the public process is broken. A system, ostensibly meant to gather the public’s input in order to make good policy decisions, ignores the most important questions: questions of right and wrong, of profit at the expense of people, of justice. Bring those questions up in a meeting and watch people squirm in their seats.

But those are the questions that define the fight over the proposed Tongue River coal train. It’s simple.

Consultation in Lame Deer

Rosebud Creek valley looking out from Deer Medicine Rocks. Photo by Alexis Bonogofsky

To say that southeastern Montana is rich in cultural and historic sites is an understatement. You can’t walk a foot without seeing a place recorded in the oral and written histories of dozens of Tribes. Representatives from the Northern Cheyenne, Oglala Lakota Sioux, Yankton Sioux, Rosebud Sioux, Crow Creek Sioux, Cheyenne River Sioux, Standing Rock, Spirit Lake and Crow were in attendance.Tribal Historic Preservation Officers asked many good questions of the STB, but let me summarize for you.

Q: Does it matter that almost 100% of the directly impacted citizens of southeastern Montana do not want the Tongue River Railroad built? Answer: We are just at the beginning of the process.

Q: Does it matter that digging up the coal will only benefit a few at the expense of the many? Answer: We are just at the beginning of the process.

Q: Does it matter that this coal will exacerbate climate change, destroy aquifers and cultural sites forever and degrade water and air quality? Answer: We are just at the beginning of the process.

Real answers to these questions will never be answered because the Surface Transportation Board, their third-party contractors and the coal companies are indifferent, at best, to the moral questions of the Tongue River Railroad. The methodology used to measure impacts and mitigation has no room for questions of right and wrong. That is irrelevant to the process.

What the Surface Transportation Board should be doing 

I think most citizens accept that our government is supposed to protect individuals from the unreasonable actions of others, especially those with more money, resources, and power. The government must level the playing field. This is to ensure that the interests of the powerful do not trample on the rights, property and lives of the citizens. The government must act as the neutral broker that regulates both the relationship between the individual and the corporation and most importantly, the application of power. It should not act as the agent of industry.

I know, kind of naïve right? But that is standard that our government should be held to, both elected and non-elected representatives, from Senators to Surface Transportation Board staff, and we should demand that they live up to their responsibilities.

Rancher Clint McRae addresses Tribal THPO officers about the important cultural and historic sites on his property during the STB Tongue River Railroad site tour. Photo by Beth Raboin.

What about the No-Action Alternative? (i.e. The “coal train to Asia” doesn’t get built option)

All of us who attended the meeting heard the staff of the Surface Transportation Board say numerous times, “the alternative that receives a permit.” Wait a minute, someone said, but there is an “alternative” that is the “No Action” alternative that the STB is required to analyze and consider…right? They quickly backtracked, “Oh yes, there is the no action alternative.” Huh, funny, cause you never really mention that alternative as being a viable option.

BNSF and Tongue River Railroad representatives did not disappoint. They, as usual, sat quiet in a corner of the room checking their phones occasionally but otherwise seemed completely uninterested in the proceedings, besides the short little, “we are excited to be working together” pep talk from BNSF’s Public Affairs guy that is.

They never tell the gathered community, landowners and THPO officers why we should support their coal train. Like Vanessa Braided Hair said in her essay, Why the Otter Creek Coal Mine Will Never be Built, they are confident in our government’s disinterest in questions of right or wrong and the ability of the process to deliver them a permit.

Amish farmers move hay during a recent wintery day in southeastern Montana. The Tongue River Railroad is slated to go directly between their barn and their house. Photo credit: Alexis Bonogofsky

The situation reminds me of a quote by the Cat in Alice in Wonderland, “In that direction,” the Cat said, waving its right paw round, “lives a Hatter: and in that direction,” waving the other paw, “lives the March Hare. Visit either you like: they’re both mad.”

The process doesn’t have a memory, but we do (i.e. The Tongue River Railroad Co. has been bad news for over 30 years)

There is no room in the Surface Transportation Board process for memory.  The tribal citizens and ranchers who have been fighting this coal train for over 30 years do remember though. They remember a lot. Just ask them.

Bison bone pile, dug up by a coal company paid archeologist, exposed to the elements for 1 year on the Crow Reservation – photo by Mike Scott

As Jeannie Alderson, a Tongue River rancher said at a recent public hearing,

“The coal companies always tell you what they are going to bring, but they never tell you what they will take away.”

Hundreds of generations of Native Americans have been protecting this land and this is the second generation of ranchers that are fighting this coal train. If I was a betting person, I know which side I’d put my money on.

Here’s something that the Surface Transportation Board staff should consider if they haven’t already. People in Montana have spent decades of their lives fighting this ill-conceived railroad. A railroad that was a bad idea when they first proposed it and is a bad idea now. They have sacrificed their health, time with their friends and family and experienced increased stress worrying that their livelihoods, history, culture and environment will be damaged irreversibly.

And yet, the STB is asking them to participate in another decade long process because Arch Coal’s stocks are in the tank and they need to look like they are expanding for their investors.  Tribes and landowners are being asked to participate in the same process that has never worked for them or treated them as equal to the railroad.

If you are opposed to the project entirely, it is interpreted as a refusal to participate in their process. To them, it is irrational and so they trivialize those who criticize the process or say no from outside the power structure.

If the public process worked, this proposal would have been dead and buried long ago.

The process asks the wrong questions of the wrong people (i.e. the people of southeastern Montana are the real experts)

We are told over and over that the process will lead to the best decision for everyone, the public and the coal companies. One big happy family. How sweet.

Conrad Fisher, Northern Cheyenne Tribe’s Tribal Historic Preservation Officer testifies at the Otter Creek coal mine scoping hearings last winter. Photo credit: Alexis Bonogofsky

I will be the first to admit that the Surface Transportation Board staff and the experts they have hired know some things. In fact, they know a lot and they also seem like very nice people. People who, on some level, probably know that what is happening is wrong. But their personal views on this matter are irrelevant to what they are paid to produce.

How the experts report what they develop for the EIS will use neither common sense nor the experiences of the people who have lived in the valleys their whole life and whose ancestors lived there as well. A non-rancher doesn’t understand why and how cattle are moved. A non-Cheyenne doesn’t understand why the Greenleaf area is important.

We are told through the process that the experts know best. Without anyone actually saying so, the citizen is eliminated as a participant.  We are there to be managed, to be dealt with, another problem that needs to be solved, possibly consulted, but ultimately ignored.

The questions that we need to answer (i.e. Is this right?) 

They refuse to ask the question, is it right, is it moral, is it ethical for a private corporation to seize Montanan’s private property, destroy sacred cultural sites of the tribal nations, exacerbate climate change, damage important water resources for wildlife, crop production and livestock, wildlife habitat and air quality?

Not only do they refuse to ask the question, they refuse to admit the question is worth asking. The public process doesn’t allow for moral balance, experiential knowledge, common sense, memory or a social view of the world. Instead, we watch as these important human values wither away.

What is encouraged to flourish is competitiveness, amorality and an extreme aggressiveness when questioned or criticized.  Above all, what is encouraged is a growth of an undisciplined corporate self-interest.

What Voice Do We Have? 

The people of southeastern Montana, those most directly impacted, say no. No, we don’t want the Tongue River Railroad, the Otter Creek coal mine or your process.

Surface Transportation Board staff tell us it isn’t your decision; that we need to trust the process. A process without memory or morality.

The people ask, whose decision is it? They tell us, it is the decision of three unelected political appointees in Washington D.C. who have never been to the Tongue River Valley. They have never ranched. They have never felt the way the land in southeastern Montana digs in to your soul. They have never experienced the epic beauty of the Tongue River and Otter Creek Valleys.

But, they tell us, don’t worry. We’ll relay your concerns to them and they will be reflected in a 2,000 page Environmental Impact Statement.

That makes all of us out here sleep better at night.

For more background on the Tongue River railroad, please see my series on the Tongue River railroad public hearings at blog.nwf.org/bonogofsky.

Northern Cheyenne tribal members gather to oppose the proposed Otter Creek coal mine on January 17, 2013

Arch Coal understands money. What Arch Coal doesn’t understand is community. They don’t understand history. They don’t understand the Cheyenne people whose ancestors fought and died for the landthat they are proposing to destroy. They don’t understand the fierceness with which the people, both Indian and non-Indian, in southeastern Montana love the land.

This is why not one dragline will rip the coal from the earth and not one dynamite blast will loosen the precious topsoil. It is why not one rail car will be loaded with coal and why not one toxic orange cloud will pass over someone’s house or the Tongue River. It is why not one burial site will be dug up and why not one elk will be displaced. It is why our water will continue to run clean and plentiful and our wildlife will continue to roam free.

This is why the proposed Otter Creek mine in southeastern Montana will never be built.

How Arch Coal treats the Northern Cheyenne community

I, along with hundreds of Northern Cheyenne tribal members, have attended all of the recent public hearings that were held on the proposed Otter Creek coal mine and Tongue River Railroad. These hearings were held to gather public input on the proposed coal mine and associated infrastructure that is needed to haul the coal out of southeastern Montana and to the West coast for export to Asia.

Standard procedure for Arch Coal representatives was to sit in the back of the room, checking their phones and looking at their watches. Many times, they would walk out in the middle of someone’s testimony. Mike Rowlands, head of Arch Coal in Montana, spoke to us for one minute.

Click here to view the embedded video.

One minute about a coal mine that will impact my people for generations. This is all he thought we deserved apparently.

Not once did they stand up and tell my community why we should support their efforts to build a massive coal mine on our borders. Not once did they tell us why we should bear the burden of the air, water and environmental pollution that will occur.

You know why they don’t do that? Because they don’t have to. To them, this mine is a done deal. The permit is a detail, a step in the process. A process rigged for one outcome. They don’t care if the Northern Cheyenne community supports them.

Well, I guess they did say they were just here to open a coal mine.

Fighting Back

By now, we have given Arch Coal and the state of Montana thousands of reasons why we are against this mine. Those thousands of reasons are people, individuals and families who are coming to public hearings, group meetings, signing petitions and getting involved.

In November 2012, Cheyenne tribal members turned out in force at public hearings to oppose the Tongue River Railroad. In December 2012, we attended coal export public hearings in Spokane and Seattle to oppose the development of any coal export terminals in the northwest and support our brothers and sisters from the northwest tribal nations who are fighting to protect their land and treaty rights.

Lucas King, Northern Cheyenne tribal member, testifies at the Seattle coal port hearing in December 2012. Photo by Paul K. Anderson.

Northern Cheyenne tribal members attend a public hearing on the proposed Otter Creek coal mine

On February 20, 2013, we submitted detailed scoping comments to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality on the proposed mine. Over 250 Cheyennes helped write and develop these comments.

On March 20, 250 Cheyennes and our allies from the Southern Cheyenne, Three Affiliated Tribes, Oglala Lakota Nation, Yakama Nation gathered in Lame Deer to oppose any development of the Otter Creek and Tongue River Valley.  This will not be a one-time event.

Then, on March 24 through the 30, a group of us travelled to Henry Red Cloud’s Renewable Energy Center on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota to learn how to install solar photovoltaic systems.

Cheyenne students learn how to install solar PV at Henry Red Cloud’s Renewable Energy Center. Photo credit: Alexis Bonogofsky

We have been fighting for this land for hundreds of years and will continue to do so.

Protecting Otter Creek and Tongue River Valleys for Future Generations

Montana politicians who support the Otter Creek mine and Arch Coal are on the wrong side of history and the wrong side of the people. Since Montana’s leaders will not stand up for the people, the people will stand up and lead them. Politicians like Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester understand the importance of protecting the North Fork of the Flathead River from coal mining but not the lifeblood of southeastern Montana, the Tongue River. Why is protecting the Flathead River more important than the Tongue River?

We will not let it become a sacrifice zone for energy exports. We have already moved beyond the paradigms forced on us by the coal companies.

This message is for Arch Coal and all other mining companies that want to dig up our homeland.

We will not only stop the Otter Creek coal mine, we will pursue renewable, distributed energy and find real, sustainable solutions for our people.

Save Otter Creek sign on Highway 212 on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation

Vanessa Braided Hair is a Northern Cheyenne tribal member and is organizing tribal citizens to oppose the development of the proposed Otter Creek coal mine and Tongue River Railroads in southeastern Montana. She is a also a wildlands firefighter and descendent of the Northern Cheyenne Otter Creek homesteaders. She lives on Northern Cheyenne Reservation in southeastern Montana.

Fishing for Chinook Salmon at sunrise on the mouth of the Columbia River, August 23rd, 2012

More coal burning means more mercury pollution, more acidification, more climate change, and more habitat loss.

With plummeting domestic coal consumption leaving coal companies desperate to find new pathways to new markets, the last investors in the dirtiest fossil fuel have now targeted the Pacific Northwest to be the nation’s largest gateway for coal exports.

Just two weeks ago Bob Rees, President of the Northwest Guides and Anglers Association, traveled from his home on Tillamook Bay to Oregon’s capitol to tell Governor Kitzhaber to take action and prevent the waterways of the Pacific Northwest from becoming a new pipeline for coal pollution.

Watch the video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Now in their remarkable joint letter of appeal to the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality, Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee have called for the “strongest possible terms” of review of air quality and habitat impacts at risk from proposed coal exports.

“We believe the decisions to continue and expand coal leasing from federal lands and authorize the export of that coal are likely to lead to long-term investments in coal generation in Asia, with air quality and climate impacts in the United States that dwarf those of almost any other action the federal government could take in the foreseeable future.”

-Gov. Kitzhaber and Gov. Inslee

Read the full text of their letter here.

What About the States?

Federal regulators aren’t the only decision makers involved, however.

State agencies in Washington and Oregon both have their own coal export project permit processes, and so far neither Gov. Kitzhaber nor Gov. Inslee have instructed their staff to block the proposed developments, though there’s been no rush to permit them, either.

Just this month Oregon’s Department of State Lands negotiated yet another multi-month delay for the Port of Morrow coal export proposal so that developers could have more time to respond to the additional questions recently raised.

What happens next?

If federal agencies like the Army Corps of Engineers decide to take a thorough look at the issues raised by Gov. Kitzhaber and Gov. Inslee, and if concerned National Wildlife Federation supporters continue to keep up the pressure, we’re hopeful we can keep the northwest coal-export-free.

But there’s no guarantee of that yet.

Keep up the fight to protect Northwest fish and wildlife from dangerous coal export proposals.

Michael O’Leary of Portland, Oregon is an Outreach Consultant for National Wildlife Federation working on coal export and renewable energy issues in the Pacific Northwest, where he’s been a political organizer for over 15 years. Michael is a certified cycling instructor and a certifiable bike enthusiast, and can often be found on two wheels, rain or shine.

The decision came after Ambre Energy initially refused to provide key information requested by Oregon’s Department of State Lands (DSL), including the project’s impacts to fish and wildlife. Knowing that DSL would likely deny the permit without this information, Ambre was forced to ask for an extension—pushing back the final decision on the permit by five months.

Dangers to Local Fish and Wildlife

Orcas like this one are at risk from toxic coal pollution. Source: Minette Layne/WikiMedia Commons

In addition to the impacts from toxic pollution to endangered orcas and other imperiled Northwest species, once the coal is exported overseas and burned, it would drive climate change, ocean acidification, mercury deposition, and other crises that affect species like salmon and steelhead, upon which orcas depend.

If approved, the Morrow Pacific project would be the first of five proposed coal export facilities in Oregon and Washington to get a green light. If all of them are built, over 150 million tons or more of coal would be moved by rail, barge, and tanker every year through those states—making it one of the world’s largest coal export regions.

Coal Exports Meet Rising Opposition

Public Opposition to Coal Exports, Seattle. NWF Photo by Michael O’Leary.

Tens of thousands of public comments, packed public hearings, and letters to the editor in local newspapers have turned up the pressure on decision makers by exposing the dangers of coal to the environment and communities. The Morrow Pacific delay is the second since the permit was filed just over a year ago, and just last week, two of the three investors of another proposed coal export terminal at Coos Bay, Oregon announced they are backing out.

Take Action for Northwest Wildlife!

Governor Kitzhaber and his Department of State Lands now have until September 1^st to approve or deny the Morrow Pacific permit. While the governor has recently called on federal officials to do a sweeping review of proposed ports, he’s also coming under heavy pressure from the coal industry. Before a final decision is made, it’s critical that Governor Kitzhaber knows his constituents support him in standing strong against coal export from Oregon’s shores.

There are countless reasons why we must stop coal exports: to sustain the diverse habitats and wildlife of our region, to keep our waters and air clean, to fight climate change—just to name a few.

TAKE ACTION! In the comment box below, tell us why stopping Northwest coal export projects matters to YOU, and we’ll share your messages with the Governor!

From left: Vanessa Braided Hair, Waylon Roger and Paulee Small. NWF photo by Alexis Bonogofsky.

Cheyenne’s Speak Out

Otter Creek rally in Lame Deer, Montana. (r) Tom Mexican Cheyenne (c) Otto Braided Hair (l) Martin Braided Hair Photo credit: Alexis Bonogofsky

“We believe our community will bear the brunt of the negative impacts from the Otter Creek mine. Sacrificing the land, water, animal and plant life for mining and money is not worth what our ancestors fought and gave their life. Our group is worried about the crime, accidents, drugs and other social issues that come along with boomtowns that our Tribe is not equipped to handle. We are being asked to deal with this so that a transnational corporation can make billions of dollars shipping coal to Asia,” said Tom Mexican Cheyenne.

The proposed mine’s proximity to the border of the reservation is of particular concern to Northern Cheyenne tribal members. Otter Creek Valley, used for thousands of years by tribal peoples, contains cultural, historic and burial sites important to the Cheyenne people and many other Plains Tribes and serves as important habitat for hundreds of wildlife species.

“To preserve language culture and identity you must protect air, land, and water, that’s who we are.  Without language and land we are not who we say we are,” said Phillip Whiteman Jr., Northern Cheyenne Sweet Medicine Chief.

People have watched as North Dakota reservations have experienced dramatic increases in crime, traffic accidents and cultural conflict from nearby oil development. When coupled with environmental impacts of air pollution, water pollution and decreased wildlife populations, many tribal members now are opposing the development of the mine.

Tribal Renewable Energy Alternatives

Henry Red Cloud with Northern Cheyenne tribal members Jeff King and Kale Means at a solar photovoltaic training last month. Photo credit: Mark Andrew Boyer Photography

A couple of the trainees will then go on to work in Colorado on a large scale solar installation this summer with the goal of starting their own renewable energy business on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation.

“We want a different future for our children. Coal is a dead end for us,” said Vanessa Braided Hair, Northern Cheyenne wildlands firefighter and community organizer. “We will fight this till the end.”

The wildlife that live in this valley need your voice.

Otter Creek Photo credit: Kestrel Air Services (MEIC)

Why Otter Creek and Its Wildlife Need You

Take a minute and look at the above photo of the Otter Creek valley in southeastern Montana. The creek meanders down from Custer National Forest mountains and eventually drains into the Tongue River. A Northern Cheyenne friend of mine told me that all the names of the creeks and valleys are descriptive names and that Otter Creek was most likely named after the river otters that used to live there.

Bull Elk. Photo Credit Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Now imagine if the state of Montana allows Arch Coal to mine the valley.  Arch will blast the land with dynamite to loosen the top soil and then bring in massive drag lines and heavy equipment to remove it. This equipment will be loud. The earth will shake with cast blasting, sometimes causing toxic orange clouds to form. They will build new roads, fragmenting intact habitat. Wildlife-vehicle collisions will increase due to the thousands of additional vehicles and trucks that will be on the rural highways in southeastern Montana. They will dig the coal up, put it in trucks and then load it on to a train to ship it to Asia.

Wildlife will be displaced from the valley, impacted by the noise, pollution and traffic. Streams and springs will be destroyed or depleted leaving wildlife with fewer options for a water source. Groundwater will be depleted which will impact agricultural wells, perennial springs and instream flows into the Tongue River. Invasive weeds will be introduced leaving less forage for wildlife. Habitat will be fragmented. There will be more wildfires due to sparks from coal trains. Poaching will increase due to increased access from new roads. Sacred sites and burial sites of Native American Tribes will be destroyed.

We also know that the mining and burning of this coal will contribute billions of tons of carbon into our atmosphere, harming wildlife and people.

These impacts are not just possible if a mine is built, they are inevitable.

Map of Otter Creek coal tracts

How you can help

Currently, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality is accepting public comments on what should be included in their draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS).  We need many voices, from around the country, to speak for the wildlife. It is imperative that we keep this coal in the ground.

You can tell the state of Montana what you think they should include in their study of this proposed mine.

1.  You can submit your comments to the state of Montana.

OtterCreekEIS@mt.gov

or

2. You can help NWF keep this coal in the ground.

Become a member or donate today.

3. You can join us online in our efforts to spread the word about NWF’s Tribal Lands Partnerships Program. 

Here’s our Facebook page, or follow us on Twitter @NWFTribalLands to keep up on the lastest news.

If you need help submitting comments or want more information about the the proposed Otter Creek mine and its impacts on wildlife, please contact me at bonogofsky@nwf.org.

The news media is getting it right. The recent public hearings over coal export proposals are proving that there’s overwhelming opposition to the plans of big energy companies to sell subsidized American fossil fuels overseas to benefit job growth in India, China, and South Korea.

Public Opposition to Coal Exports, Seattle. NWF Photo by Michael O’Leary.

The Wyodak Coal Mine, Gillette, WY. NWF Photo by Michael O’Leary.

The Seattle Times is saying that the opponents of coal exports make up the “vast majority” of Seattle hearing attendees. Oregon Public Broadcasting reported we “dominated” the Vancouver hearing. The Bellingham Herald reported that Whatcomb County attendees were “overwhelmingly” against coal.Sure, we were hard to miss. We made signs. We had stickers. We wore our t-shirts. We’ve done our homework to identify how the mining, transportation, and burning of coal would negatively impact our local communities and the planet as a whole. We were well prepared to make a good showing.

Lummi Nation Council Member Jay Julius Explains Proposed Coal Export Project Impacts to Xwe’ chi’ eXen (Cherry Point) and the Lummi Xa xalh Xachnging (Sacred Obligation). NWF Photo by Michael O’Leary.

That said, we’re a long way from successfully protecting our water, wetlands, clean air and climate from coal exports. While coal is on the decline here in the US, overseas consumption is still on the rise. We’ve still got work to do.

Be sure to do your part with the National Wildlife Federation action alerts on this issue, and do join us if you have the opportunity to get involved more personally. Staking your claim to clean air, clean water, and becoming a catalyst for the change to a cleaner global economy never sounded so good. And you might just make the newspapers.

Protect Northwest orcas and other wildlife from dirty coal! Speak up against these dangerous coal export proposals.

Michael O’Leary of Portland, Oregon is an Outreach Consultant for National Wildlife Federation working on coal export and renewable energy issues in the Pacific Northwest, where he’s been a political organizer for over 15 years. Michael is a certified cycling instructor and a certifiable bike enthusiast, and can often be found on two wheels, rain or shine.

The coal industry has been ripping off taxpayers for decades, but the tides may be turning. (Photo: Philip Taylor)

It’s hard not to feel a little giddy about this development (at least for those of us who track this stuff for a living). When your entire business model is pegged to degrading the environment, you had better be sure that you’re keeping your financial ledgers clean, but companies like Peabody, Arch Coal, and others have been scamming the public for so long that it’s second nature. The U.S. has shifted away from burning coal for power, but other countries—particularly in Asia—are still paying top dollar for it, and the industry is trying to take advantage of record prices by mining cheap American coal and selling it at tremendous profits overseas. Their mistake was in trying to avoid paying the federal government the royalties it was due, by setting up corporate middlemen and various other dodges that skirted the boundaries of legality and undermined the public trust. As Wyden said in a press release:

This is so obvious it shouldn’t need to be said: Coal companies need to be paying taxpayers all of the money they are owed. If regulators, or decades-old laws, are not doing enough to protect the public interest, our committee intends to find out, and to fix it.

Pod of orcas near Mayne Island, just miles away from a major proposed coal export terminal. (Photo: Miles Ritter)

But regardless of what motivates our elected officials, if the Senate starts taking the profit question seriously, they’ll have to dig into the question of who is really benefiting from all this mining — is it the American people, or is it a few industry executives? The truth ain’t rocket science, and it could go a long way toward protecting iconic species and the health of our planet.

Take Action! Protect threatened wildlife like salmon and orcas by speaking out against coal exports in the Pacific Northwest.

You can learn more about the danger of coal exports at NWF’s website, or check out Power Past Coal for more ways to get involved.