BELLINGHAM, Wash. — The American coal industry, with its billions of dollars and army of lobbyists, has a storied history of muscle and might. But in this northwest corner of Washington, people like Christopher Grannis, a 69-year-old building contractor and stalwart in local civic causes, are standing up to coal.

And coal is losing.

“There are financial rewards for a few, but risks are borne by many,” Mr. Grannis said, standing at a microphone at a recent Whatcom County Council meeting in support of a moratorium on new applications for fossil fuel transport through the county. Council members passed the moratorium later that evening.

American coal producers, suffering under the weight of Obama administration regulations, have sought to export their fuel to Asia, hoping that a new hub of proposed export terminals along a stretch of the Pacific Northwest could serve as their industry’s economic lifeline. Instead, local activists have shot down almost every project, adding a western blockade to what President Obama’s critics have called the “war on coal.”

And on Election Day, this state may go further, with a vote on a first-of-its-kind ballot initiative to tax carbon emissions — a policy that most economists say is the most effective way to tackle global warming. Across the country, both advocates and opponents of climate change measures are watching closely to see if the Washington ballot initiative will herald national efforts to fight global warming through higher taxation of fossil fuels.