While there is a lot of chest pounding by a local enviro group, the truth is the Whatcom County Council has not passed a ban on export of oil or energy products from Cherry Point.  The council has imposed a temporary stoppage - legally entitled 'emergency' stoppage - on accepting applications for export facilities.  This is not intended to halt exports in any way, but only intended to give the council enough time to consider what restrictions and allowances to place on land out by Cherry Point. 

The Cascadia Weekly has an excellent explanation of this in Tim Johnson's Gristle.  It carefully explains the actual legislation and why it was passed.  There may be in the future - this coming winter - a council approved ban on exports, but that is not what passed this month.  For now, the county is not accepting applications so that a corporation cannot file and later claim they are vested, and thus future county law does not apply to their application.  This is a temporary measure to prevent confusion and side-stepping of future planning codes. 

Of course, if applications are not accepted then permits cannot be issued.  But the important take away is: this is not a ban on oil exports. It is a temporary legal pause on any activity, giving the council enough time to carefully consider what it wants to do for future import, export and processing of energy fuels out at Cherry Point. The issue of whether to ban oil exports - or not - from Cherry Point will be debated over the next several months by the council and legislation permitting exports - or not - will only be passed after that.