Bruce,

The 12th paragraph states, "Today, the West Coast is a bit player in coal exports; less than 1 percent of the Powder River basin's production went overseas in 2008. The main terminal for coal exports is in Vancouver, B.C., with spotty shipments elsewhere, and industry sources say limited port space is the biggest hang-up."

Shipments to Roberts Bank are up, but as a total percentage of Powder River Basin production, it's still only about 1 percent. BNSF and UP originate over 100 coal trains on average per day between them in the PRB. UP hasn't sent any trains to Roberts Bank in months (and those, I believe, were from Utah), and so far this year BNSF has been averaging just over 1 per day. So, as the Powder River Basin production as a whole, export coal through Roberts Bank still isn't anything significant compared to other destinations.

However, I think the proposed coal port at Cherry Point, which is also in the news, is more interesting. Cherry Point is an ideal deepwater port, but running coal trains there - in any great quantity - poses an interesting challenge. Like the Roberts Bank trains currently operating now, they must traverse the Seattle/Tacoma/Everett terminal area, which is only supposed to get busier with Amtrak Cascades and Sounder passenger trains. And, there is very little room in this area to add any capacity. Should either of these ports be built, it will be really interesting to see how this coal gets from one side of Washington to the other.