What is Coal Free Bellingham? And what does it mean for the climate? This is a movement that started in the Pacific Northwest. It's primary goal being to prevent an oil pipeline from being laid in Bellingham

From The Coal Free Bellingham Website

BNSF Railway Company is requesting that it be allowed to partner with the City of Bellingham in the legal challenge to keep the duly qualified citizens’ initiative – known as the Bellingham Community Bill of Rights or Proposition 2 – off the November ballot. The request to intervene was filed with the Whatcom County court, and a decision is expected on Tuesday, July 31st. Other motions related to the case, including whether to accept or deny the city’s legal challenge, will have their first hearing on Friday, August 3rd. Both hearings will take place in Judge Snyder’s court room in the Whatcom County Court House, 311 Grand Ave. in downtown Bellingham. The initiative is asking voters to secure residents rights to clean air and water, along with prohibiting coal trains from passing through Bellingham. Source

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From Northwest Citizen

Has the current system enabled certain businesses to decide policies that are supposed to regulate those very same businesses? Are land use guidelines overly influenced by developers and other businesses that profit from development? Are energy strategies and regulations determined by energy corporations? And do financial conglomerates essentially establish our nation’s financial and economic plans? Source

From Whatcom Watch Online

Ultimately, there are profound reasons why we shouldn’t expect our own City Councilmembers to directly challenge the corporations whose proposed coal terminal – and the shipping of coal through our community - threatens the very soul of our community. Given these reasons and the framework of law within which they operate, our council has, indeed, taken an action that is logical… from their perspective!! Therefore, we need to understand these reasons and this framework. They will reveal why the council did what they did, while simultaneously revealing why this city needs a bill of rights so that we, the people, can protect ourselves. And why, in the end, the people of Bellingham govern less in the City of Bellingham than they would like to believe. Source

The three articles noted above offer a summary of the history of the Coal Free Bellingham group.