Not too many years ago, many of these protesters didn't even realize that some of their Portland, Puget Sound, and California electricity came from these coal-fired plants. In the same way, many of them don't realize that U.S. coal exports to China have already increased dramatically.

I would be very cautious about staking my fortunes on a new West Coast export facility. One, because there's already steady coal traffic going to Roberts Bank and Prince Rupert. Two, because recent history has seen its share of newly-built export facilities come and go quickly thanks to fickle, short-lived Asian customers. Three, because China is importing coal in great quantity now based on strategic and economic reasons, not so much out of desparation.

The widely-reported scenario of China being critically short on domestic coal supplies has been overblown and misrepresented. They have actually curtailed production and buying at several of their own mines while playing the world coal market for a bargain, and for control. After current contracts expire, the question of how much longer China intends to buy coal from the U.S. is anybody's guess. If someone does move ahead on a new export facility, just make sure it's equally equipped to transload grain and potash so there's some way to pay the bills if the coal quits coming through.