"The expansion of a terminal along the heavily industrialized Houston Ship Channel normally receives little attention. But Kinder Morgan Energy Partners’ plans to refurbish two docks have opened a new front in the fight over coal."

"Environmentalists are mounting a campaign to stop the projects and a dozen other proposed shipping terminals along the Gulf Coast because the docks, if built to capacity, could export as much as 200 million tons of coal per year from Appalachia and the Rockies to Asia and Europe.

They say exporting the sandy black gold will threaten local air quality, particularly near docks and rail lines, while encouraging China and others to burn more coal and increase emissions of carbon dioxide and other climate-altering gases."

Matthew Tresaugue reports for Hearst's FuelFix August 5, 2013. [2]