Comment EI-19421
Received or sent (printed as 1/6/2013)
I believe the Environmental impact statement for the proposed Tongue river railroad needs to evaluate the public need for the rail road. The main driver to build the rail road is to ship coal from Western states to Asia. This enterprise will benefit coal companies at great cost to the public. First and for most the rail line will create multiple global and local hazards not general public benefits. Locally ranch lands will be divided and ranching will be much more difficult to operate. Air and water pollution from coal dust and accidents are a major concern. Noise pollution and interference with wildlife is a concern that needs to be investigated in the environmental impact statement. Globally, climate change and the use of fossil fuels is causing disruption to the atmosphere and disrupting food supplies globally and ranching in particular with increased drought, warmer winters etc. All these impacts need to be evaluated. I can not think of one public benefit that would justify construction of this rail line. Please include all these aspects in the environmental impact statement. People who want to have the rail line build say that if we don't build it here it will be built in Canada and no matter what Asia will one way or anther burn all the coal. This is not a done deal. Solar and wind energy are becoming increasingly competitive commercially and if we invest in these forms of electricity generation we will have no driver to build rail lines for coal transport. Thus to capture the economic benefit of selling energy to Asia and create public benefit we need to invest government and private resources into solar and wind power.
Submitted by: Arvia Morris · Seattle, Washington
The Board publishes this comment in its environmental-comment table for this proceeding. It is quoted here as printed; nothing is inferred from it, and it states the commenter's own position in their own words, not this record's.
Permanent address docketyard.org/d/FD-30186/comment/EI-19421 · back to the docket sheet