New Poll: Coal Exports Winning Support In Washington

Washington’s coal export terminal proposals are winning the battle for public opinion, a new survey finds. It shows half the state’s residents supporting coal exports and one-third opposed — but the results are nuanced.

The survey was conducted by the non-partisan firm Elway Research and first reported by the online news and opinion site, Crosscut. It asked state residents about two major coal terminals proposed in Washington — one near Bellingham at Cherry Point and one near Longview. They are among the five facilities proposed in the Northwest that would receive coal by the trainload (or the barge-full, under one proposal) and send it across the Pacific Ocean on Asia-bound ships.

Trains would carry the coal from mines in Wyoming and Montana, through Spokane and down along the Columbia, before heading up the I-5 corridor through Seattle and Vancouver, Wash.

Read the full story on KUOW's Earthfix