"One concern is that burning coal contributes to global warming and air pollution"
To rationally use that argument against the coal port is to assume that without Montana and Wyoming coal Koreans, Japanese and Chinese plants would switch to another, less polluting, fuel. Certainly a debatable point and one that the author, understandably, ignores.

But Marx is passe. He came way before the internet. Now blogging is the opiate of the people.

If these freeway mega-projects are so important, why not build them as toll roads with the tolls paying the entire cost of construction and operation?

In 1900, Seattle had a 25-mile system of urban bicycle paths. Built by both amateurs and contractors, the system was created with a combination of volunteer hours from the passionate Queen City Good Roads Club and financed through city bike licenses.

Today's self-entitled, arrogant, selfish "progressive" bicyclists would never consider such a thing. They refuse to pay for vehicle licenses, and their favorite mayor, Mike McGinn, loves to repeat the lie that it's impossible to execute a bicycle licensing requirement.

As long as today's bicyclists demand everything and pay nothing, they'll be fiercely opposed by a lot of residents.

Sir, first, both of your posts today are excellent. Well written, to the point.

Second, I oppose exporting coal. I think the twelve year old girl you cite has the right of it.

BUT. THIRD: It was never very likely - likely at all that the Corps, using NEPA, or the State, with SEPA,
was going to look at the issue of "What happens when you burn coal in China?"

The legal SCOPE of these two laws does not stretch that far. Or at least, hasn't stretched that far under any prededents I'm aware of under US or Washington State Law.

This issue boils down to two things: Elections in Whatcom County, and PUBLIC OPINION.

POLITICAL ACTION could change the outcome. But nothing will change if folks expect 'someone else'
to do the heavy lifting.

Exactly as I predicted. Clearly, the fix is in -- has been from the very beginning. Once again we see how, in the United States of George Bush, Barack Obama and their Wall Street masters, "democratic process" is nothing more than a Big Lie. Thus, just as Washington state is being reduced to a de facto theocracy by the Roman Catholic takeover of health care, so is it being transmogrified to Appalachia West by capitalism. Coincidental? I think not: remember Marx, specifically how religion is used to opiate the people.

The Pot and the Kettle?

"In "nice" Seattle though, it's frankly fun to read a book by someone who has a point to make and doesn't seem to care much about taking prisoners."
—that one cracked me up, in fact inspired me to read on with more interest.

"The leadership refused to back away from the past and seize the future."
— a 21st century 520 and the waterfront boulevard/I-5/transit package? True; Rise Above It All? 'Somewhat an hallucinatory feel.'

"It was enormously successful during the fair, getting so many people out of their cars that the city's giant publicly funded Interbay parking lot went bust."
—similarly, so many less visitors that the herd of homeowners with spare rooms decked up for rent never saw a penny.

"One of the appeals of expanding our streetcars is that it revives a bit of the quick-and-dirty solutions of another era."
— that whopper leaves me speechless.

"But Seattle has also become more bureaucratic, controlling and prescriptive, more obsessed with inclusion, stakeholder meetings and regulatory perfection than elegant, fast execution."
—true, but troublemaking put forth as an axiom. In fact, one could write an entire book on the subject of whether we should or should not be trying so hard to 'make the trains run on time' as to so fake concensus.

"Seattle has also become more bureaucratic, controlling and prescriptive, more obsessed with inclusion, stakeholder meetings and regulatory perfection than elegant, fast execution."

I think this judgment only applies to those who are not part of the ruling elite. The large capital private sector is doing just fine obtaining permits and approvals to make money hand over fist. Any obsession with inclusion and process is a sop to those who still operate under the illusion that there is a democratic process in play.

David Brewster hit the nail on the head in his April 30 essay on Seattle governance in the guise of mayoral election coverage: http://crosscut.com/2013/04/30/politics-government/114196/seattles-next-mayor-will-be-mcginn-like/ In essence, Seattle has become ever more firmly under the control of the elites--those who own and manage the most valuable private land and related capital assets. I.e., the "regime".

The regime has little interest in planning that diminishes their ability to profit from use of the commons. As Brewster observes, "Those outside the regime consensus are marginalized."

Interestingly enough, if you google "washington state transportation package," you cannot find a comprehensive description or analysis of the proposal. As usual, those who are in the know don't want everyone else to know. Standard operating procedure in this state: government of the insiders, by the insiders, for the insiders, to be paid for by the outsiders.

The legislature should ignore the outrageous McCleary decision and dare the Supreme Court to enforce it.

I can see from your various comments that you're nothing but a shyster real estate speculator. You care nothing for the city or its people or its neighborhoods or the quality of life. Everything is about the dollar for you. So tell us: are you an architect or are you an attorney? It must be one of the two, because only they have such a finely-tuned love for ugliness.

Yawn. Maybe it would be more interesting to know what John Fox would do if he were mayor.

It all depends on whether you've got the perspective of a real estate speculator shyster or not. I don't. I've poured all kinds of money into my house of the sort that I'll never get back. If I thought that my next door neighbor could erect a 7-Eleven or an apodment, I'd never have moved here to begin with.

This is absolutely correct. A narrowly-scoped EIS is only a victory for the coal interests if down the road the courts uphold it.

"Will an extra $320 million patch things up around Olympia?"

Yes.