Before I commented on this I had to make a cpoule calls and talk to people that work at both Westshore and Neptune Terminals. The numbers your using are wrong, the 2009 numbers that your quoting was before both terminal expansions were finished. These two terminal expansions have increased tonnage by almost 10 million tons, and those increases are not for Canadian coal exports. Cloud Peak Energy is the only coal company exporting coal of any significants, there has been a few train loads over the last three years from Utah but most everything else has been shipped by Cloud Peak. Cloud Peak also signed a new contract that starts in 2013 that will be over twice that's currently being exported, (3.3 million tons for last year, and this year will be about 3.7 million). Also there talks with Teck Resources and one of the two east coast terminals to ship the European export coal there instead of Westshore or Neptune, that would free up another 2-5 million tons. I'll say this as politicaly correct as I can, cUZ coal is going to continue to be exported out of Canada, and that amount will at least triple in the next 18 months.

Finally, something to boost local jobs. I am all for it. High paying jobs for the railroad, dockworkers, and local builders. Stop standing in the way of progress. The coal will get to China in some other way, if not out of Longview.

We need jobs.

what a load of tosh... granted coal is not the cleanest - though I doubt that you'd stop the asian nations from burning it - if you dont supply - someone else will. China produces over 2BILLION METRIC TONS ( that's approx 2.5 BILLION SHORT ( NET) TONS) of Coal annually and its still not enough. As to coal dust / pollution - I would agree that it exist - however, in the western world where regualtions are imposed on storage - a simple thing as spraying the stock pile with good old H2O is sufficient to supress dust - other options employed is compacting the coal., building protection ( high fence) - all of these methods are open to application to reduce / prevent pollutions. Dont think that by stopping at longview those producers wont find another way out... where there is will - there will be a way - so better that you actually work with the industry to make a difference rather than postulate with hot air.