About the No Coal Campaign
The people of Oakland and the East Bay overwhelmingly oppose coal in Oakland.
The scheme to ship coal through Oakland is still being promoted despite the overwhelming opposition of the East Bay community.
Developer Phil Tagami (aka Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal LLC) and hedge fund operator Jon Brooks (aka Insight Terminal Solutions) are renewing a toxic scheme to build a giant coal export terminal in West Oakland with the support of the coal industry, friendly local politicians in Utah and Wyoming, and President Donald Trump.
Ten years ago, labor, environmental justice, faith-based, community, and climate activists waged a powerful grassroots campaign and fought off plans to set up a coal depot at the foot of the Bay Bridge.
But the coal industry and developers have not given up.
Buoyed by pro-coal winds blowing from Washington (along with a $700M flood of bailout money), coal interests in Utah and Wyoming are reportedly scheming to route coal exports through the East Bay and on to Asian markets.
If they succeed, Oakland, Berkeley, Richmond, El Cerrito, Albany, and Emeryville could see 4 or more 120-car coal trains rattling past their neighborhoods each day spewing highly toxic coal dust en route to the rail yard in West Oakland and back to coal country.
Coal dust from coal trains poses a direct threat to the health and safety of East Bay communities along the tracks west from Martinez to Richmond and south to Oakland. Scientists say increased rates of asthma, cardio-pulmonary disease, and other health conditions will result. And when 10 million tons of coal are burned overseas, the impact is global.
Efforts to build new coal distribution infrastructure represent a direct attack on the future of our neighbors and relatives in the East Bay and around the world. We demand a just, clean, sustainable project, not one dedicated to the dirtiest fossil fuel.
We can stop this nightmare before it happens!
Visions of getting rich off the dirtiest fossil fuel dance in developers’ heads, BUT the project needs Investors to come up with an estimated $300-400 million to build a coal terminal to Bay Area and California environmental standards.
Investors will think twice before funding a project with broad public opposition. To make sure they hear us, we will need to make some noise!
Timeline
JULY 2013: City of Oakland approves agreement with Tagami to develop a multi-commodity rail-to-ship export terminal on a corner of old Army Base.
DECEMBER 2014: Tagami states publicly that rumors the terminal will ship coal are untrue.
APRIL 2015: News breaks of secret year-old deal to ship Utah coal through Oakland.
SEPTEMBER 2015: City Council holds public hearing on coal; over 600 attend and many testify opposing coal.
JULY 2016: City Council bans storage and handling of coal in Oakland.
DECEMBER 2016-SEPTEMBER 2025: Tagami and City battle in court for nearly a decade. In 2018, a federal judge rules that City breached Tagami’s contract by imposing the coal ban without more evidence of health and safety risks. In 2024, a state court awards Tagami an extension of time to get construction underway but denies his $159.6 million damages claim.
JUNE 2026: Trump announces a $700 million coal industry bailout, including $75 million for construction of an Oakland coal terminal. Assemblymember Mia Bonta responds by introducing AB40, the Community First Coal Review Act, to require an Environmental Impact Report that will lay out the true human cost of an East Bay coal terminal, especially to communities in the “sacrifice zone” alongside the railroad tracks and in the already impacted West Oakland community adjacent to the site of the proposed terminal.
MEANWHILE: Los Angeles hedge fund mogul Jon Brooks becomes the owner of Insight Terminal Solutions, a shell corporation that now holds the sublease to build and operate the terminal. Nothing in Tagami’s lease or ITS’s sublease requires the terminal to ship coal.
A detailed timeline with links to explanatory posts can be found on No Coal in Oakland’s “Our Campaign” page.