Oakland City Council Votes to Ban Coal Exports

On June 27, the Oakland, Calif., City Council voted unanimously to ban coal from being handled and stored in Oakland, after over a year of pressure from concerned community members. Above, members of UNITE HERE, hotel and food service workers Local 2850, rally against coal outside the City Council offices.

Sixteen months ago, in March of 2015, a local newspaper in Utah uncovered a secretive deal between Utah public officials, a coal company called Bowie Resources, and Oakland developers to export Utah coal through a proposed shipping facility in Oakland. The Oakland developers had previously promised concerned community members that they would not ship coal through the terminal -- but they broke that promise.

Oakland high school students prepare to testify before the city council.

For over a year, the Sierra Club's San Francisco Bay Chapter and Beyond Coal campaign, local community group No Coal in Oakland, and allied organizations including the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, Asian Pacific Environmental Network, San Francisco Baykeeper, Communities for a Better Environment, SEIU Local 1021, and Earthjustice, have pushed the City Council to use their clear regulatory authority to ban coal from being shipped from the proposed terminal. The terminal was to be located on the former Oakland Army Base -- City of Oakland property -- and the original proposal was to ship agricultural products or bulk items like wind turbines.

Margaret Gordon, director of the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, testifies before the council.

The Sierra Club and its allies raised concerns about the health consequences of coal dust from open-top coal cars, which have the potential to be devastating to the West Oakland community, where residents are already twice as likely as the national average to require emergency room visits due to asthma attacks. The coalition highlighted the enormous climate impact of the proposal, noting that the amount of coal that would have been shipped through the Oakland terminal is equivalent to the annual carbon emissions of seven average-sized American coal-fired power plants. Together the groups and individuals who oppose coal exports in Oakland built a campaign that included community members, labor leaders, health experts, youth, and faith leaders. 

Union members rally against coal outside the Oakland City City Council chambers.

The City Council will vote on July 19 whether to confirm the ordinance to ban coal in the city. If it does, the City of Oakland can get back to the business of making a plan for the Oakland Army Base that will create good jobs for the community without sacrificing climate progress or public health. 

All photos by Brooke Anderson.