Bellingham, WA launches a local ordinance campaign to ban coal trains from passing through their city...

On January 26, 2011, the people of Bellingham, WA, launched one of the first Community Rights based local ordinances on the west coast of the US. Their goal is to ban all of the mile-long coal trains from passing through their city, which are being planned to run from Montana, Wyoming, and Alberta to various west coast ports in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. Stopping trains from passing through Bellingham would make it impossible for coal to reach the intended destination of the Cherry Point deep water port just north of Bellingham.

For more information on the Coal-Free-Bellingham campaign, click HERE. And to view their actual ordinance, click HERE. Their goal is to collect enough signatures by Summer 2012 to have it placed on the ballot November 2012.

To view a map of the intended routes and ports, and to find out how you can replicate these efforts in your town, click HERE.