Brown keen on coal
Montana's nickname of The Treasure State is touted on our flag with 'Oro Y Plata'-gold and silver, based on our mineral wealth. We have far more treasures in our state in the way of natural resources including wood products, oil and coal.
At last month's PNWER-Pacific Northwest Economic Region- meeting at Big Sky I attended an excellent meeting on coal. Diverse panelists from western Canada and the northwestern states presented their findings on this important natural resource.
One of the panelists, Del Laverdure, a senior advisor to Chairman Old Coyote of the Crow tribe, spoke of the importance of shipping coal out of the region to world markets. Two-thirds of their budget is derived from the sale of coal and could produce a benefit of $107 million annually to employ their members and reach economic prosperity on the reservation.
There is now a chokehold on shipping coal because of the delays in permitting two deepwater ports in Washington state. Both future ports are going through multiple NEPA and SEPA documents to be approved.
One of the ports will be located in Longview on the Columbia River. Longview was the first privately planned U.S. community and is home to many manufacturing centers and businesses located along the river.
One of the past Longview facilities, Reynolds Aluminum, is gone and now replaced with Millennium Bulk Terminals. They have partnered with the landowner, Alcoa, to clean up the site. They plan a state-of-the-art rail system to supply the world with dry products, such as coal, and are working with the federal and state governments for clearance once again.
Another port seeking approval is north of Seattle, just 20 miles south of the Canadian border. The Gateway Pacific Terminal already has three piers in the area with this one being the fourth. It, too, will be a dry bulk export facility and compete with the west side of British Columbia for shipping goods to world markets. Our northern neighbor has gone "all in" on exports from the West Coast and is employing thousands of Canadians with good paying jobs.
Making terminals the choking point for not shipping Southwest Montana coal will only extend the use of poor quality coal to Asian markets. The need for coal to make electricity in emerging countries is not going away whether we thumb our noses or whether our president puts on increasing demands for a cleaner power plan in the U.S.
The president's recent rules on greenhouse gas emissions is double troubling knowing that poor quality coal is still being used. How will these U.S. rules help the world as a whole?
Montana and the Crow Nation are home to the highest BTU, lowest sulphur content coal in the world. Doesn't it make sense to sell our cleaner coal to Taiwan, South Korea and Japan to replace the poor quality coal they now buy from Indonesia? Wouldn't this go a long way to lowering the emissions globally and lessen the effects of greenhouse gases many are so worried about with this resource?
The sooner the Washington ports are certified, the sooner the Earth will have a cleaner product making electricity. The Crow Nation sees the benefit to their members just as we should see the benefit of lower emissions from this cleaner burning fuel. Higher BTU = less need for coal = lower emissions, thus lessening the carbon in the atmosphere.
I agree with the governor's disappointment at the latest rulings on emission standards and hope he, too, will be on the side of shipping a better product to all potential buyers. Now we have to convince the president that we are in a global market and could make a difference on the world stage.
As for me, I will definitely vote with the Crow.
Dee Brown
Senate District 2
Hungry Horse