Coal trains lose water, not dust

I’ve really only a couple of points to address. One, the coal trains do not lose several hundred pounds of coal dust per car between Wyoming and the coast. If that were so, by now the trains would be running through banks of coal dust higher than the trains themselves; 300 pounds per car, 1,000 cars per day times 365 days per year times 60 years. Do the math. They’re losing water vapor. Coal is a porous mineral mined from below the water table. It’s wet and dries on the trip.

Two, China is going to keep building coal-fired power plants. They’re going to burn coal. They can burn their own, which is some of the dirtiest on the planet, but they’d rather burn ours, among the cleanest. Environmentally, it’s far better for everyone if we sell them ours.

Plus, it would be nice if the folks in the Wyoming mining industry, those in the rail industry and all those who support and supply them, got a big new customer base. More economy, more revenue for all levels of government.

I really don’t see a downside. Maybe it’s just me.

Ed Taylor

Spokane