I, like many other Bellingham residents, tuned into the presidential debate recently. There were many statements that Mitt Romney made that I disagreed with, however there was one in particular that really ignited a burning dislike for the man: "I like coal. I'm going to make sure we can continue to burn clean coal." While these three sentences seemed to hamper the steady decline of coal stock momentarily, it did nothing to improve my opinion of him. I find the very idea of "clean coal" to be absurd and unfortunately the citizens of Bellingham are coming close to finding this out first hand with the possible addition of the Gateway Pacific Terminal. Romney's statement reminded me that if he is elected president, there will be other communities around the United States that will be inflicted just like Bellingham, by the increase use of "clean coal." As far as the environment and our health is concerned, one simply cannot compare the cleanliness of coal to that of wind or solar power. It is with these concerns that I urge you to vote for a president that supports the research and development of sustainable energy sources. Vote Barack Obama! He did after all give "$90 billion" in loans to solar and wind (warning: statistics quoted should be double checked due to extensive rounding errors that may have been applied).

Sean Cooper

Bellingham