Planned Northwest Coal Exports Would Not “Just Go to Canada”

Proponents of Northwest coal exports sometimes argue that resistance to new terminals is futile. They say that if Oregon and Washington ports decline to build coal shipping capacity, US firms will simply export their products from existing facilities in British Columbia. But the truth is that Canadian coal port capacity is limited, and US coal interests desperately need new terminals in order to reach Asian markets.

Compiled here are the coal industry’s leading thinkers explaining why the industry wants new coal ports in the Pacific Northwest.