Pacific Northwest coal protests heat up in Portland, White Rock

Creative Commons: 350.org, 2012

North American coal companies know there’s lots of money to be made shipping their dirty fuel to China. And they’d have an easy time getting it there with trains and barges… if it weren’t for all those well-meaning folks who’d rather they keep their dirty fossil fuels in the ground instead. Twice in the past week, residents of the Pacific Northwest have come out in solidarity against the coal companies targeting their region for six new coal export terminals. If approved, these terminals could move 150 million tons of coal through the region each year.

The largest gathering took place in Portland, Oregon this weekend where Robert F. Kennedy Jr joined 400 local residents in a rally.

“Oregon and Washington leaders are faced with a choice between healthy communities with a clean energy future or becoming tied to trafficking coal, the most toxic fuel on earth. Blocking coal export is critically important to the health of our families and our climate. Opening up Oregon and Washington to coal trafficking is insane. The coal giants would profit while our families suffered. Coal is the dirtiest fuel on earth and our nation is counting on the Pacific Northwest to do the right thing.” – Robert F. Kennedy Jr

Watch an excerpt from Kennedy’s speech below:

Thirteen arrested in protest against Warren Buffett-owned coal shipment

Earlier in the weekend, thirteen activists in White Rock, British Columbia were arrested n a symbolic statement opposing overseas coal shipments.

Creative Commons: Rob Baxter, 2012

Among the arrestees were Nobel Peace Prize-winning economist Dr. Mark Jaccard with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) who announced his intentions for civil disobedience earlier in the week with an open letter. In the letter he acknowledged this was his first act of civil disobedience, but one that he felt could not wait any longer.

“Within this decade we will either have steered away from disaster, or have locked ourselves onto a dangerous course,” Jaccard said. “We are putting ourselves on the line because our future is at risk and we have to stand up for it.

“I’m willing to engage in civil disobedience and risk arrest . . . to emphasize how important it is that we take urgent action to stop the actions that cause climate change. The window of opportunity for avoiding a high risk of runaway, irreversible climate change is closing quickly.”

Read more about the protest at the Vancouver Observer.