Huffman, Thompson Call on Secretary Buttigieg to Deny Federal Funding for North Coast Coal Train

Last week, Representatives Jared Huffman (CA-02), chair of the Natural Resources Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Subcommittee, and Mike Thompson (CA-05) sent a letter to Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg urging him to deny federal funding for a railway project intended to transport coal through their districts.

“We cannot imagine that your Department of Transportation, with your strong commitment to climate protection and a bold transition to clean energy, would provide financial support for a coal export project that directly undermines the Biden administration’s climate and clean energy agenda. Nevertheless, we want to make it very clear: we strongly oppose federal funding for this project and urge you to personally ensure that it receives no federal support, including any loans from the department’s Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing program,” the members wrote in the letter.

Earlier this month, news broke that a Wyoming corporation along with the Utah Inland Port Authority worked behind the scenes exploring a secretive proposal to rehabilitate an unused California railroad that would be used to ship Western-mined coal overseas through the Humboldt Bay port.