Environmental Damage
Resource Capital Funds' coal export proposals would increase coal strip mining, disrupt communities, and fuel climate change and air pollution.
Resource Capital Funds' coal export proposals would increase coal strip mining, disrupt communities, and fuel climate change and air pollution.
Coal strip mining
Resource Capital Funds' coal export proposals would increase coal strip mining in the American West, polluting the land, air, and water. The impacts were summarized in a letter to Resource Capital Funds from environmental and citizens groups in Montana, Oregon, Washington, and beyond:
"The owners of surface mines in the harsh, semi-arid climate of the Northern Great Plains, including Ambre Energy, have failed to demonstrate convincingly that they can comply with the law. Very little mined land has met the federal reclamation law's requirements as measured by acres released from final phase reclamation bonds. Surface water, springs, and shallow aquifers essential to livestock and wildlife are disrupted and degraded, undermining the long term economic viability of mined areas. Particulates and pollution from blasting and dust generated by huge surface mines cloud the crystalline vistas of the western landscape, and compromise the health of humans and animals."
Disrupted communities
Resource Capital Funds' coal export proposals would disrupt communities in the Pacific Northwest with mile-long coal trains, polluting the air with coal dust and diesel pollution, as the Oregon Nurses Association explained:
Coal dust coming from uncovered cars contains heavy metals like mercury, lead, arsenic, and cadmium. Coal dust is a trigger for asthma, and causes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Coal also contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, some of which are carcinogenic and are associated with lower IQ and childhood asthma.
But worse than coal dust from a public health perspective, is diesel exhaust, which causes asthma, heart disease and is a known carcinogen, particularly lung cancer. Substances in diesel exhaust are inhaled down the bronchial tree, where the toxins easily diffuse across the alveolar membranes into the circulatory system.
Over 600 health professionals have raised concerns about coal export proposals, and many communities that would be impacted by increased coal train traffic and pollution have passed resolutions against the proposals.
Climate Change
We're using less coal in the United States, but Resource Capital Funds' coal export proposals would undermine this progress by exporting coal to Asia, fueling climate change and deadly air pollution. If built, the Millennium Bulk coal export terminal would export 44 million tons of coal each year - more than any coal export terminal operating in North America. Combined with another proposed coal export terminal near Bellingham, Washington, these projects represent a threat to the climate comparable to the Keystone XL pipeline - among the most dangerous fossil fuel project proposals in the world.
Resource Capital Funds' coal export proposals would increase coal strip mining in the American West, polluting the land, air, and water. The impacts were summarized in a letter to Resource Capital Funds from environmental and citizens groups in Montana, Oregon, Washington, and beyond:
"The owners of surface mines in the harsh, semi-arid climate of the Northern Great Plains, including Ambre Energy, have failed to demonstrate convincingly that they can comply with the law. Very little mined land has met the federal reclamation law's requirements as measured by acres released from final phase reclamation bonds. Surface water, springs, and shallow aquifers essential to livestock and wildlife are disrupted and degraded, undermining the long term economic viability of mined areas. Particulates and pollution from blasting and dust generated by huge surface mines cloud the crystalline vistas of the western landscape, and compromise the health of humans and animals."
Disrupted communities
Resource Capital Funds' coal export proposals would disrupt communities in the Pacific Northwest with mile-long coal trains, polluting the air with coal dust and diesel pollution, as the Oregon Nurses Association explained:
Coal dust coming from uncovered cars contains heavy metals like mercury, lead, arsenic, and cadmium. Coal dust is a trigger for asthma, and causes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Coal also contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, some of which are carcinogenic and are associated with lower IQ and childhood asthma.
But worse than coal dust from a public health perspective, is diesel exhaust, which causes asthma, heart disease and is a known carcinogen, particularly lung cancer. Substances in diesel exhaust are inhaled down the bronchial tree, where the toxins easily diffuse across the alveolar membranes into the circulatory system.
Over 600 health professionals have raised concerns about coal export proposals, and many communities that would be impacted by increased coal train traffic and pollution have passed resolutions against the proposals.
Climate Change
We're using less coal in the United States, but Resource Capital Funds' coal export proposals would undermine this progress by exporting coal to Asia, fueling climate change and deadly air pollution. If built, the Millennium Bulk coal export terminal would export 44 million tons of coal each year - more than any coal export terminal operating in North America. Combined with another proposed coal export terminal near Bellingham, Washington, these projects represent a threat to the climate comparable to the Keystone XL pipeline - among the most dangerous fossil fuel project proposals in the world.