US considers military bases for coal, gas exports

BILLINGS, Mont. — The Trump administration is considering using West Coast military bases or other federal properties as transit points for shipments of U.S. coal and natural gas to Asia, as officials seek to bolster the domestic energy industry and circumvent environmental opposition to fossil-fuel exports.

The proposal was described to The Associated Press by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and two Republican lawmakers.

It would advance the administration's agenda of establishing American "energy dominance" on the world stage and underscores a willingness to intervene in markets to make that happen. It's also tantamount to an end-run around West Coast officials who have rejected private-sector efforts to build new coal ports in their states.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, called Buildings at the former Adak Naval Air Facility in Alaska now sit vacant, but the Trump administration could use the base and other federal properties as transit points for shipments of U.S. coal and natural gas to Asia.

the proposal a "harebrained idea" and said President Donald Trump should instead consider that climate change represents a national security threat.

A Democratic senator from Oregon and environmentalists also blasted the proposal as undercutting local communities opposed to fossil-fuel exports.

Zinke cast it as a matter of national security to ensure U.S. allies have access to affordable fuels. The Trump administration also has cited national security as justification for keeping domestic coal-burning power plants online to prevent disruptions of electricity supplies.

It's unclear which sites are under consideration other than one in Alaska. Experts said the possibilities are constrained by the need for a deepwater port.

Zinke said the administration is interested in partnering with private entities to ship coal or liquefied natural gas through naval installations or other federal facilities. He added it's still early in the process.

Zinke specified only one site that could serve as an export hub, for natural gas: the former Adak Naval Air Facility in Alaska's Aleutian Islands. The base closed in 1997 and has been largely abandoned. Roughly 300 people live in the town of Adak, the westernmost community in the U.S.

Zinke did not reveal government properties that could serve as coal ports.

Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden said the administration is "disregarding the realities around climate change" and "trampling on local communities" that have rejected port proposals.

"The federal government should be doing more to invest in clean, renewable energy, not threatening the health and safety of Oregonians by propping up dirty energy investors," the lawmaker said.

Exports have been held up as a lifeline for struggling coal miners. The West Coast offers the most economical route for shipments to Asia because of its proximity to the largest coal-producing region in the U.S.: the Powder River Basin, on the MontanaWyoming border.

Any export site would need access to deep waters to accommodate large ships and enough land to store fuel awaiting shipment. Few such locations can be found on the West Coast, said Joe Aldina, a coal industry analyst with S&P Global Platts Analytics.

With the U.S. coalexport market booming, Aldina said any new port would quickly fill with coal for shipment overseas. Yet demand is expected to fall over the long term.

Resistance to exports — rooted in worries about air pollution, climate change and rail safety — and changing market conditions have resulted in six proposed coal ports in Washington and Oregon being rejected or shelved. A $680 million project in Longview, Washington, was denied a permit last year by state regulators who said it would increase greenhouse gas emissions and cause "significant and unavoidable harm to the environment."

That's brought a backlash from officials in coal-producing states, who have blasted Gov. Jay Inslee in particular. They argue the rejection of the Longview port violated the commerce clause in the Constitution that says only Congress has the power to regulate international and interstate trade.

Montana, Wyoming and four other states have joined a lawsuit challenging the rejection.