Step by Step
The place I call home celebrated a big win this week when the City of Richmond, CA voted to phase out the handling and storage of coal and petcoke. The victory caps several years of dedicated work by local organizers who have been pushing for action ever since they learned that a private export terminal had dramatically increased the amount of coal it was shipping to Asia. The increased exports meant more coal was passing through the city in uncovered train cars and sitting at the port in uncovered piles — and that, in turn, meant more particulate pollution was almost inevitably reaching Richmond residents’ lungs.
Richmond’s battle with fossil fuels isn’t over. The company that owns the terminal — as well as the Utah company that mines the coal shipped from there — threatened to sue if the vote didn’t go their way. Besides, residents of this industrial city like me continue to breathe far more than our fair share of the Bay Area’s air pollution, including fumes pumping out of the nearby Chevron refinery.
But for the moment, as someone living about a mile from the terminal as the crow — or coal dust — flies, I’m thankful for this important win. Local victories inspire us to keep up the fight, even when the global climate picture feels bleak.
Onward,
Zoe Loftus-Farren
Managing Editor, Earth Island Journal
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