{"id":21917,"date":"2012-12-06T10:21:05","date_gmt":"2012-12-06T16:21:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/?p=21917"},"modified":"2012-12-06T10:21:07","modified_gmt":"2012-12-06T16:21:07","slug":"facing-long-odds-community-still-fighting-border-coal-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2012\/12\/06\/facing-long-odds-community-still-fighting-border-coal-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Facing Long Odds, Community Still Fighting Border Coal Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A controversial proposal from a Mexican company to dig an open pit coal mine<\/a> near the border town of Eagle Pass will likely go before the Railroad Commission of Texas in January, and odds are it will get the green light.<\/p>\n

Backers <\/a>of the Dos Republicas<\/a> mining project received some good news before Thanksgiving when Railroad Commission Hearings Examiner Marcy Spraggins recommended that they be allowed to mine<\/a> the area.\u00a0The project had provoked opposition from local politicians as well as community members concerned with environmental impacts. Some local business people in the area have welcomed the plan, saying it will bring jobs.<\/p>\n

The case highlights the larger issues of coal’s future in the United States and abroad. While Texas may very likely be building its last<\/a> coal power plant, coal exports are reaching record highs.<\/a> That’s prompted some to ask if U.S. efforts to control carbon pollution associated with coal will make a difference globally<\/a>, when it’s simply mined here and then burned somewhere else in the world.<\/p>\n

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