The Political Ecology and Political Economy of the Millennium Bulk Coal Export Terminal, Longview, WA
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Central Washington University ScholarWorks@CWU All Master's Theses Master's Theses Fall 2019 Terminal Illness: The Political Ecology and Political Economy of the Millennium Bulk Coal Export Terminal, Longview, WA Paige McNorvell Central Washington University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd Part of the Environmental Law Commons, and the Human Geography Commons Recommended Citation McNorvell, Paige, "Terminal Illness: The Political Ecology and Political Economy of the Millennium Bulk Coal Export Terminal, Longview, WA" (2019). All Master's Theses. 1303. https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/1303 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Master's Theses at ScholarWorks@CWU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@CWU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. TERMINAL ILLNESS: THE POLITICAL ECOLOGY AND POLITICAL ECONOMY OF THE MILLENIUM BULK COAL EXPORT TERMINAL, LONGVIEW, WA __________________________________ A Thesis Presented to The Graduate Faculty Central Washington University ___________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science Cultural and Environmental Resource Management ___________________________________ by Paige Elizabeth McNorvell November 2019 CENTRAL WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY Graduate Studies We hereby approve the thesis of Paige Elizabeth McNorvell Candidate for the degree of Master of Science APPROVED FOR THE GRADUATE FACULTY ______________ _________________________________________ Dr. Elvin Delgado, Committee Chair ______________ _________________________________________ Dr. Michael Pease ______________ _________________________________________ Dr. Rodrigo Rentería-Valencia ______________ _________________________________________ Dean of Graduate Studies ii ABSTRACT TERMINAL ILLNESS: THE POLITICAL ECOLOGY AND POLITICAL ECONOMY OF THE MILLENNIUM BULK COAL EXPORT TERMINAL, LONGVIEW, WA by Paige Elizabeth McNorvell November 2019 The declining demand for coal in the United States (U.S. Energy Information Administration [EIA] 2016) has led to a push by the coal industry for the construction of export terminals in the Pacific Northwest that would supply coal from the Powder River Basin of Montana and Wyoming to Asia. Though none of the proposed terminals have been approved for construction, the Millennium Bulk Coal Export Terminal in Longview, Washington remains a potentially viable option pending decisions in state and federal courts. In this thesis, I critically analyze the Millennium Bulk Terminal permitting process through a mixed-methods qualitative approach that uses archival work supported by semi-structured interviews and adopts the frameworks of political ecology, political economy of natural resources, and environmental governance. I argue in this thesis that the complexity and extended duration of the Millennium Bulk coal export terminal permitting process is the result of the multiplicity of interests acting upon it. The controversial nature of the terminal has created divisive friction within the Longview community over the environmental costs of potential economic iii growth, but it is the state of Washington’s climate-change focused political agenda that has led to what appears to be the terminal’s demise. These state government actions to deny critical permits for the Millennium terminal has produced inter-scalar tensions with the federal government, who, under President Trump’s administration, has used neoliberal economic strategies to attempt to promote fossil fuel development and export. Coal export terminals in the Pacific Northwest, however, have not been able to gain state government approval because of the cumulative effect of the specific materiality of coal and the position of these terminals at the midstream point of the global coal commodity chain. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I IT’S A COAL, COAL WORLD ................................................................... 1 Introduction ............................................................................................. 1 Research Problem .................................................................................... 4 Purpose .................................................................................................... 8 Significance ........................................................................................... 11 Literature Review .................................................................................. 12 Methodology ......................................................................................... 16 Study Area ............................................................................................. 23 Outline of the Thesis ............................................................................. 30 II LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................... 32 Introduction ........................................................................................... 32 Theoretical Frameworks: Political Ecology, Political Economy of Natural Resources, and Environmental Governance ........................ 33 Conclusion ............................................................................................ 46 III DEBATE OF THE MILLENNIUM ........................................................... 48 Introduction ........................................................................................... 48 The Thin Green Line: Coal Export in the Pacific Northwest ................ 51 Terminal 6: Millennium Bulk ............................................................... 57 Conclusion............................................................................................. 80 IV PERMITTING REGULATIONS ............................................................... 81 Introduction ........................................................................................... 79 Applicable Federal Permitting Regulations .......................................... 83 Applicable State Permitting Regulations .............................................. 91 Applicable County and Local Ordinances ............................................ 98 Conclusion .......................................................................................... 100 V ANALYSIS ............................................................................................... 102 Introduction ......................................................................................... 102 Analysis............................................................................................... 103 Conclusion........................................................................................... 115 VI CONCLUSION ......................................................................................... 118 v TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONTINUED) Chapter Page Addressing Research Objectives ......................................................... 121 Recommendation ................................................................................. 125 Limitations .......................................................................................... 126 Future Research ................................................................................... 128 REFERENCES ......................................................................................... 130 APPENDIXES .......................................................................................... 159 Appendix A – List of Acronyms ......................................................... 159 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 Federal, state, and county regulations pertaining to the Millennium terminal ................................................................................... 15 2 Research questions and methods ................................................................ 22 3 Coal export terminals proposed in the Pacific Northwest .......................... 57 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1 Expected coal train routes from the PRB to Longview ................................ 6 2 Millennium terminal location in Longview, Washington ........................... 23 3 Delivered coal prices, 2000-2010 (nominal dollars per short ton) ............. 52 4 U.S. coal imports and exports, 2000-2010 (MMst) .................................... 52 5 Millennium permitting timeline 2010-2011................................................ 62 6 Millennium Bulk scoping public hearing in Ridgefield, WA ..................... 65 7 Millennium permitting timeline 2012-2016................................................ 68 8 Millennium permitting timeline 2017 Part 1 .............................................. 71 9 Millennium permitting timeline 2017 Part 2 .............................................. 74 10 Millennium permitting timeline 2018-2019................................................ 79 11 Applicable federal, state, and county regulations for the Millennium terminal ................................................................................... 82 viii CHAPTER I IT’S A COAL, COAL WORLD Introduction We have become the largest energy producer anywhere on the face of the Earth. The United States stands ready to export our abundant, affordable supply of oil, clean coal, and natural gas. – President Donald Trump, 2018 Now is the time to join together in action and put a price on carbon pollution. Doing