Coastal City Moves to Ban Coal Exports, Cutting Off a Major Port

Piles of coal wait to be loaded into trucks at the Sufco Coal Mine, 30 miles east of Salina, Utah, on May 28, 2014. Sufco is one of four mines operated by Wolverine Fuels, a company that has threatened to sue the city of Richmond, Calif., if it imposes a ban on coal that would cut off a major export port for Wolverine. George Frey/Getty Images

A coastal city in California is moving to ban coal exports, shutting down a port that handles about one-quarter of the coal exports from the U.S. West Coast.

While many media reported that Richmond’s city council passed the ban into law on Jan. 14, the ordinance only passed one round of voting and it will go to a second reading sometime in the next few weeks before the council takes a final vote.