The Bellingham Business Journal has weighed in on the economic impacts the proposed super coal port at Cherry Point might have on our Whatcom County economy.  Associate editor, Oliver Lazenby, has written an overall look at the recent $48,000 study by the Philadelphia PFM Group which was paid for by Community Wise, a grassroots local organization seeking factual information about the project.  The article title is: Could coal terminal be net negative for local economy?

Community Wise is comprised of many leading business and professional people who are skeptical the project will benefit either Bellingham or Whatcom County.  They are seeking to bring out the facts about such coal ports rather than take confrontational public political action as Re-Sources is doing.  The study was commissioned to examine the economic impacts of the coal port.  

Other issues besides economic are environmental impacts, opportunity costs, quality of living impacts from noise and coal dust, traffic impacts from blocked railroad crossings, and visual impacts of continuous trains passing through Bellingham.  Even economic impacts can be divided into 2 or 3 issues - such as overall impact on the county, what and how many new permanent jobs will be created at the coal port, what new business activity may or may not follow the coal port.  This BBJ article is a fine overview of the various economic issues and goes beyond what we have read to this date.