BY BRIAN MAFFLY
Utah's push to export its coal culminated in a raucous Oakland City Council meeting Monday, when officials debated, and ultimately approved, an ordinance banning the chunky fossil fuel from passing through a major deep-water port taking shape on the shores of the Bay Area city.
The coal debate has sharply divided this port city, where people, mostly blacks, flocked in the 1940s for military support and longshoremen jobs along a busy waterfront — but today struggle with poor health measures and stubborn unemployment. Ban backers raised the specter of dust-spewing trains raining coal residue along rail lines to the detriment of public health, while opponents said the ban would needlessly strangle jobs.
After months of study and fielding four hours of impassioned public comments, the council passed in a 7-0 vote the ordinance banning the storage and handling of coal and petroleum coke to resounding applause from the residents packing the council chambers...