Columbia County is in the cross hairs of a national effort by Big Environment to kill coal power.  And while Big Environment tries to kill off coal it’s killing jobs. Sustainable is a slogan that pertains only to “environmental” stuff, apparently, not jobs.

Columbia County, that lovely working class haven along the shores of the Columbia River, is being targeted by “Columbia Riverkeepers” which holds a meeting tonight to further plot how to upend plans to bring a new port facility to the job deprived community.

The plan to explore bringing in the coal port was approved recently by the Port of St. Helens Commissioners. Among the promises being made by the company according to the Clatskanie Chronicle,

Once operational, the coal export terminal could bring 80 full-time jobs with an average annual salary of $90,000, along with benefits. How many of those jobs would be filled by the local labor force rather than existing Kinder Morgan employees transferred in from other facilities has not been said. However, the company did say during the presentation that it focuses on using local contractors and resources during construction and for facility maintenance, which will be supported by a collective bargaining agreement with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. 

The meeting will be held in St. Helens tonight at 6pm the Best Western Meeting Room. The address is 585 S Columbia River Highway.

If you go please ask the “sustainability” people why they don’t like sustainable bank accounts, sustainable community jobs and a sustainable tax base?

Like Kinder Morgan, Ambre Energy is estimating its capital investment for the project will be around $150 million which would generate $850,000 in lease revenues for the Port of St. Helens and a similar amount for the Port of Morrow.
Ambre Energy estimates the project will also generate $750,000 in property tax revenues for Columbia County and another $750,000 in property tax for Morrow County.

The plan is to bring in coal by rail and ship it out to overseas customers. Columbia Riverkeeper doesn’t want any coal falling into the water, but you need to read a little more closely to realize that the group doesn’t want ANYONE in the WORLD to use what it calls “dirty” coal.

On Riverkeeper’s website

In 2010 the same bunch put the kybosh on a similar export terminal in Longview after the Department of Ecology sued to find out the environmental fall out of coal use at the destination–China. See my posts about it here,  here, and
here.

Absurd doesn’t begin to cover this.