I appreciate your call for a civil discussion on this issue. It's a critical one that in no small part decides the future of this community. I would encourage everyone to educate yourselves.

I am solidly against this project for the following reasons:

1) The "good jobs now" argument is largely bullshit. The VAST MAJORITY of the jobs "created" are temporary construction related jobs and these jobs are highly specialized and are going to be filled by skilled workers, not entry level people that are trained. I've seen analysis estimating that more than 80% of these jobs will go to skilled non-residents from out of state. The reality on the ground means that the vast majority of the salaries of these people will not stay in the community for the well known multiplier effect, getting spent on goods and services that in turn strengthens our local economy. Yes, these people will certainly spend some money in the community but not anything like a local would. The economic benefits of these high wage jobs is being vastly overstated by project proponents.

The permanent jobs are very few as the terminal will not require much of a staff of operations to run once built. Again, not a significant economic driver for the community. We'll see a short term increase in our tax base for the city, but those numbers will fall off as the negative impacts of the reality of this project drive people away from our area. No one wants to live near a coal train, or a dirty town that is swarming with coal trains that stretch 1.6 miles long.

2) Coal dead zones are very real, very hazardous, and very bad for our progressive, forward looking community. As the uncovered cars trundle along, they get jostled and create coal dust that is deposited around the tracks. This coal dust is so small of particles (think copy toner) that it clogs the respiratory systems of plants and animals, killing them. This is very very bad and is being largely ignored by the proponents of this project. In addition to the dead zones around the train tracks, larger dead zones occur around transfer points, meaning that much of the marine life around the actual terminal will also be polluted and killed. Even if they use "covered conveyors" at the terminal site, these only reduce the dust, not eliminate it and the underlying problem still remains, the animals and plants still die.

3) Coal trains are long and would be frequent if the terminal is built. This would totally destroy the quality of life for downtown Bellingham. These trains are loud, disruptive and mess with traffic flow. Anyone who has to drive around this town will be waiting for trains DAILY, waiting for a LONG TIME (greater than 10 minutes), and this will happen OFTEN. I know you have dismissed this point, but as someone who lives downtown, the train traffic is about as dense as I am comfortable with already. Trains are also NOISY AS HELL. I live a mile from the tracks and I cannot even carry on a conversation when the trains are passing and blowing their horns every 5 seconds.

I'm not against industrial growth, job expansion or new construction. These can be wonderful things if balanced against the needs of the community and weighed against the quality of life impacts of the community. This project will quite literally destroy our quality of life for very little reward. I believe that the negative economic impacts (who wants to buy an expensive waterfront condo if there are loud dirty trains going by every half hour) will far outweigh the positive ones. Bellingham has built its reputation on our environment, quality of life, and progressive, forward thinking outlook. This project will destroy that reputation and will send those green jobs (the ones we've been working so hard to attract as a community) elsewhere.

I believe this project is likely going to get driven through to completion because there are literally BILLIONS of dollars making sure all opposition is crushed in the name of profits, and don't even get me started on the ethics of shipping our fossil fuels overseas where there are no environmental standards to protect the environment from spoilage. I know you don't care about this issue, but many others do.

Also your argument that "if we don't build it, then we get all the downsides of the increased traffic without any economic benefits" is total horseshit frankly. I know it is a point being made frequently and loudly by project proponents, but it is simply not true. Yes, with billions backing this project, another terminal will likely be used, but that doesn't mean that we stuck with a string of coal trains coming through Bellingham every day. There are any number of legal mechanisms that can be used to restrict or reroute train traffic. This is not by any means an inevitability as you and the backers of this project suggest.

The idea of Bellingham getting ruined breaks my heart and I will do what I can to oppose the project, even if these efforts are in vain. That said, if this project goes through, I will absolutely be leaving Bellingham (and I have worked really hard to be able to live here since 1985).

TL;DR This project is immoral, unethical, doesn't offer the benefits advertised and will destroy the quality of life in our lovely town while actually harming the local economy in the long run.