Bellingham Comments from Digital Recorder - EISs for the Proposed ...

GATEWAY PACIFIC TERMINAL EIS SCOPING HEARING VOL. II
COURT REPORTER: BETH DRUMMOND PROCEEDING DATE: October 27, 2012
Page 69
1 Chuckanut Drive North, Bellingham. I was born in Seattle,
2 moved to Bellingham in 1969.
3 I would like to address the cumulative
4 unmitigable, unavoidable impacts of all the coal export
5 proposals up and down the West Coast, including British
6 Columbia.
7 Our house is on fire.
8 Scientists tell us the earth can maintain 350
9 parts per million of C02 in the atmosphere. It's now 390
10 parts per million and going up. Extra carbon in the
11 atmosphere is causing ocean acidification. Coral reefs are
12 dying all over the world. In Samish Bay, oyster spawn are
13 unable to form shells due to acidification. When I was
14 standing in line this morning, I was told to make it local.
15 Well, that's one of the local connections.
16 Ice sheets are melting at an unprecedented rate
17 threatening coastal communities. Storms, floods, droughts
18 are becoming more severe and more frequent due to the excess
19 energy in the atmosphere.
20 Shipping coal to China is feeding the fire.
21 Please consider, in the scoping process, the
22 impacts caused by increasing CO2 in the atmosphere due to
23 the burning of coal proposed to be shipped to China. The
24 only reasonable alternative is no action. Thank you.
25 MS. STRAUSZ-CLARK: Quick announcement, if you