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There is no doubt that coal is one of the dirtiest fuels widely used to generate electricity (thermal coal) and refine metals (metallurgical coal). The burning of coal negatively impacts human health and pollutes the environment in the vicinity of a burn facility and, globally, is the biggest contributor to climate change. Concerns regarding the shipping of coal include airborne coal dust that is blown from transport trains and from the mountains of coal stockpiled at Roberts Bank. There is also runoff rain water that picks up dissolved toxic contaminants as it percolates through the uncovered coal mountains and ends up in the environmentally sensitive delta water. Other major concerns include fire and spillage from accidents.

So, why is Canada involved in shipping U.S. coal overseas? The reason is partly political and partly environmental. The solidly Democrat states of Washington, Oregon and California, with tough environmental regulations, have repeatedly declined approval to ship coal despite recent appeals by the coal industry to the courts and the Trump administration. This leaves the thermal coal resources of the solidly Republican states of Wyoming and Montana land-locked. The solution is for Canada to come to the rescue by allowing the coal to be shipped.

Good old Canada, with environmental protection laws that were drastically weakened in 2012, willingly accepts shipping the U.S. coal that is too dirty for the Americans to ship themselves. The U.S. coal shipments are increasing. At Roberts Bank, they increased tenfold from 2008 to 2017 and another 15 per cent from 2017 to 2018. It appears that weak Canadian environmental laws are rigged to favour economic benefits for a handful of people, in this case mostly in the U.S. coal industry, over the health and well-being of the environment and citizens.In the coastal U.S. states, the situation is the opposite.