Bill to use Utah funds for California coal port
Last week a new bill was introduced in the Utah legislature that would allocate 51 million dollars of Utah taxpayer money to fund a port in Oakland, California for exporting coal – out of the U.S.
This scheme would allow coal to be shipped out of Utah to foreign buyers and would prop up the coal industry and facilitate coal expansion in Utah.
(It is currently not absolutely clear whether or not the moratorium on new coal expansion on public lands announced in January by the Obama administration would or would not stop the proposed Alton coal mine expansion. It certainly should since it would be a new lease – on public lands — open to bidding by any company – but those in favor of more coal will certainly be looking for a way around these facts.)
The ability to ship more coal out of Utah would certainly, either way, be helpful to those producing coal – and detrimental to our environment and our wild lands and wildlife.
The figures in question seem to vary from $5l million to $53 million. Either way, we don’t want to spend our money to help destroy the natural beauty of Utah.
For the link to an article in the Salt Lake Tribune, click here.
For the link to the text of SB 246, click here.
(If you can find the relevant section – please let us know where it is. It isn’t easy to find.)
San Francisco Bay and Oakland residents overwhelmingly oppose the Oakland coal port! For a posting from the San Francisco Bay chapter of the Sierra Club, opposing the Oakland coal port, click here.
The Utah legislative session ends this Thursday, March 10, so now is the time to send in a comment.
SB 246 is a new bill, just introduced – perhaps with the intent to minimize time for discussion about it.
For Kane County, our Senator is Senator Ralph Okerlund, rokerlund@le.utah.gov.
Even if your comment arrives after the bill has been passed, letting our representatives know that we are opposed to Utah coal expansion and to the devastating destruction caused by the fossil fuel industry to our wildlife and wild lands, will not be a wasted effort!
SEND AN EMAIL!
Please write to your Utah Senator.
If you are not a Utah resident, please write anyway, stating where you live. (The destruction of the natural world is a global issue, not just a local one.)
For Kane County, Utah, our Senator is Senator Ralph Okerlund, rokerlund@le.utah.gov.
Thank you!
Photo: Sharon St Joan
Pingback: Animal Interfaith Alliance opposes Oakland coal port | Council for all wildlife
Pingback: Email to oppose Utah bill to fund Oakland coal port | Council for all wildlife
Reblogged this on Art, animals, and the earth.