British Columbia Opts for Pro Jobs,
Pro-Export Terminal Expansion Leaders
Speculation surrounding the attitude of our British Columbia neighbors toward the continued expansion of port capacity for the exportation of raw materials, including coal and other U.S. and Canadian commodities, was answered in last month's provincial elections.
According to Connelly, Dix campaigned on themes that opposed the expansion of coal and oil exports from B.C. ports, while Clark extolled jobs and tax revenue by expanding exports and the economy. Dix and his party lost; Clark and her party won. British Columbia has not "gone green", according to Connelly.
A lack of port capacity to efficiently serve U.S. exports of dry bulk products like corn, coal, grains, and wood biofuels is driving the development of port capacity elsewhere, especially to B.C. In a previous report[Will the Trains Come Anyway? YES], detail was provided on the confirmed and potential expansion at five B.C. ports, along with the sources of the data. These are facts, but opponents of U.S. port and industrial expansion, including the GPT project at Cherry Point, WA, have turned a blind eye to these facts, saying that the British Columbians were turning against such development. In light of this election, they may want to re-consider this line of argument.
Like B.C. voters, we too have a choice: expand port capacity here and capture the benefits of increased U.S. exports in terms of jobs and tax revenues. Or watch those jobs and revenue literally pass us by to British Columbia where business is welcomed.
We can't afford to let these jobs pass us by!Support GPT now
As many of you have probably heard, a portion of the I-5 Skagit river bridge collapsed last week. Thankfully, no serious injuries have been reported as a result of the collapse, although several vehicles and their drivers fell into the river. The repercussions for a bridge out between Canada and Seattle will create tremendous economic and traveling strain and provides a wakeup call for any that doubt the need for transportation preservation in Washington State.
This tragic and disruptive event comes just prior to the return of our Washington legislature and your help is needed to ensure that lawmakers in Olympia understand that a sustainable transportation funding package is necessary for a safe and economically prosperous Washington.
Please contact your legislators TODAY and over the next three weeks via phone and email voicing support for a sustainable transportation revenue package in the interest of public safety, freight mobility and economic security.
WA Legislative Hotline: 1-800-562-6000
Legislator phone and email contacts can also be found by visiting:
The bridge collapse and the need for transportation improvements clearly underlines the need for infrastructure investment; we need your help to continually repeat that message to the legislature until agreement is reached on an acceptable funding package.
Please feel free to contact me at 206-293-8350 if you should have any questions. Thank you! Josh Swanson, Labor Research and Communications
206-293-8350/jswanson@iuoe302.org
'Environmental Activists' deserve same scrutiny as the rest of us...
Today it seems more difficult than ever to discern fact from opinion. Some say the stilted mix of TV ratings, profit-minded corporate journalism and credibility-challenged blogs has inflamed partisanship, dashed fair-minded discussion and hopelessly polarized the country.
