OK, so there are a few people who will benefit from using coal, and there are a lot of people that have a sense of responsibility for the ecology of our earth and the impact we have now on future generations.

Can you believe it, my father often enough used to tell me that he felt that the fish in the sea, ocean or sound, were like a canary in a mine. He implied that when the fish become extinct we humans somewhere along the line of life on earth will be the next to suffer from an unhealthy ecosystem.

Now, I don't really know who exactly will benefit from the coal being mined in the USA and used in China but I do know that with my own use of coal-based products a warning advisory comes with the products that coal causes many health issues including cancer. For those of you who have never been exposed to coal tar, you can't really be allowed to breathe the air in an exposed room without respirator equipment, that is the kind of respirator that pipes in fresh air to the guy doing the job. I don't like coal and I can't with any logic see how any one else can either.

John Thompson

Bellingham