Robertson, C coal

see  Coalition for Responsible regulation  CoC
Coal baron Corbin J. Robertson, Jr. is head of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Natural_Resource_Partners" title="Natural Resource Partners">Natural Resource Partners</a> and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Quintana_Minerals&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Quintana Minerals (page does not exist)">Quintana Minerals</a>. The grandson and heir of Texas oilman <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Hugh_Roy_Cullen&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Hugh Roy Cullen (page does not exist)">Hugh Roy Cullen</a>, he "is said to own more coal through his various ventures than anyone outside of the U.S. government."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Corbin_Robertson#cite_note-2007hbj-0">[1]</a>

=mayer dk $:Aspen coal robertson (cullen, Jew Deal, Mccarthy) p203But house passed wax-markey june 2009 but in fal l attack ads on eg baucus (already in trouble for ACA) montana [ATI?] $ from Corbin Robertson (also Coalition for Responsible regulation)
Robertson is listed as director of a pair of front groups promoting climate inaction, 501(c)(3) <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Plants_Need_CO2" title="Plants Need CO2">Plants Need CO2</a> and 501(c)(4)<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/CO2_Is_Green" title="CO2 Is Green">CO2 Is Green</a> (with associated media campaign); and his name appears on the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Koch_Event_2010-06_Attendees" title="Koch Event 2010-06 Attendees">list of attendees</a><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Corbin_Robertson#cite_note-1">[2]</a> of the June 2010 Koch strategy group meeting in Aspen, CO.

Robertson was acknowledged at the privately held Koch seminar in June

2011 in Vail, Colorado for donating at least $1 million to Koch-related

causes. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Corbin_Robertson#cite_note-Mother_Jones_Exclusive-2">[3]</a>

<h2>Contents</h2>

[<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Corbin_Robertson#" class="internal" id="togglelink">hide</a>] </div>

<ul><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Corbin_Robertson#Articles_and_resources">1 Articles and resources</a>

<ul><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Corbin_Robertson#References">1.1 References</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-3"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Corbin_Robertson#Related_SourceWatch_articles">1.2 Related SourceWatch articles</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Corbin_Robertson#External_resources">1.3 External resources</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Corbin_Robertson#External_articles">1.4 External articles</a></li></ul>

</li></ul>

</td></tr></tbody></table>

<h2> Articles and resources</h2>

<h3> References</h3>

<ol class="references"><li id="cite_note-2007hbj-0"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Corbin_Robertson#cite_ref-2007hbj_0-0">↑</a> Mary Ann Azevedo (2007-09-09). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2007/09/10/story2.html">Energy fund drills in new 'direction'</a>.

Houston Business Journal. Retrieved on 2011-03-27. “Hugh Roy Cullen,

who was dubbed "arguably Houston's most famous oilman" by Texas Monthly

in 2005, founded the now-defunct Quintana Petroleum in 1930. Today,

Corby Robertson -- Cullen's grandson -- is said to own more coal through

his various ventures than anyone outside of the U.S. government (see

"Cullen heir nabs huge lumps of coal," Dec. 8, 2006). Besides his role

with Quintana Energy Partners, Robertson also serves as president of

Quintana Minerals Corp., CEO and chairman of publicly traded Natural

Resource Partners LP, and chairman of Quintana Maritime Ltd., a

Nasdaq-traded bulk shipping company.”</li><li id="cite_note-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Corbin_Robertson#cite_ref-1">↑</a> Lee Fang (2010-10-20). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://climateprogress.org/2010/10/20/koch-big-oil-chamber-glenn-beck-plot-2010-election/">MEMO: Health insurance, banking, oil industries met with Koch, Chamber, Glenn Beck to plot 2010 election</a>. Climate Progress. Retrieved on 2010-10-31.</li><li id="cite_note-Mother_Jones_Exclusive-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Corbin_Robertson#cite_ref-Mother_Jones_Exclusive_2-0">↑</a> Gavin Aronsen, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/09/koch-brothers-million-dollar-donor-club">Exclusive: The Koch Brothers' Million-Dollar Donor Club</a>, Mother Jones, September 6, 2011</li></ol>

<h3> Related SourceWatch articles</h3>

<ul><li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Plants_Need_CO2" title="Plants Need CO2">Plants Need CO2</a></li><li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/CO2_Is_Green" title="CO2 Is Green">CO2 Is Green</a></li><li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Koch_Event_2010-06_Attendees" title="Koch Event 2010-06 Attendees">Koch Event 2010-06 Attendees</a></li></ul>

<h3> External resources</h3>

<h3> External articles</h3>

<table style="margin:0.5em 0.57em 0.5em 0.7em; border-collapse: collapse; background: #fffacd; border: 1px solid #dad26d;"><tbody><tr><td style="width: 100%; padding:.25em .25em 0.25em .25em;">This article is a <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/SourceWatch:Find_or_fix_a_stub" title="SourceWatch:Find or fix a stub">stub</a>. You can <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/SourceWatch:Find_or_fix_a_stub" title="SourceWatch:Find or fix a stub">help</a> by <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Corbin_Robertson,_Jr.&action=edit">expanding it</a>.</td><td>
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    <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories">Categories</a>: </font><ul><li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Climate_change" title="Category:Climate change"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Climate change</font></a></li><li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Coal_Issues" title="Category:Coal Issues"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Coal Issues</font></a></li><li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Energy" title="Category:Energy"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Energy</font></a></li><li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Stubs" title="Category:Stubs"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Stubs</font></a></li></ul><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">====</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><br /></font></div><div><div class="series-label" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 170); margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 5px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(254, 250, 203);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This post is part of the research project:&nbsp;<a href="http://daily.sightline.org/projects/northwest-coal-exports" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">Northwest Coal Exports</a></font></div><p style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The race for the Whatcom County Council may turn into one of the nation’s most important votes for climate change. That’s because the county is home to Cherry Point, the site of a massive proposed coal terminal—which, if constructed, would be the biggest coal terminal in North America, allowing 48 million tons of coal from the landlocked western US to reach Asian seaborne coal markets.</font></span></p><p style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In Whatcom County, local authorities have a direct say over the land use and permitting decisions that will allow the project to go forward—or not. In other words, the composition of the Whatcom County Council matters a great deal to the future of the US coal industry. And as it happens, four of the seven members of the Council are up for re-election, which means that the races have become a virtual referendum on the highly controversial coal port.</font></p><p style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://earthfix.opb.org/energy/article/the-little-county-council-election-that-could-mean/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">As KUOW’s Ashley Ahearn reported last week</a>, the candidates thought to be opposed to the port were handily out-fundraising their opponents. Then, just after Ahearn’s story and other&nbsp;<a href="http://crosscut.com/2013/10/18/politics-government/116990/whatcom-coal-fight-election/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">similar coverage</a>&nbsp;was published—and just days before a key fundraising deadline—<a href="http://www.pdc.wa.gov/MvcQuerySystem/CommitteeData/contributions?param=U0FWSVdTIDIyNw====&year=2013&type=continuing" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">a tsunami of coal money</a>&nbsp;flooded into a two-month-old local PAC,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.savewhatcom.org/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">Save Whatcom</a>.</font></p><p style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Here’s how suddenly the cash arrived:</font></p><p style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://daily.sightline.org/2013/10/21/coal-money-in-politics-whatcom-county/screenhunter_05-oct-21-12-35/" rel="attachment wp-att-32635" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-32635" alt="timeline coal PAC" src="http://daily.sightline.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/2/files/2013/10/ScreenHunter_05-Oct.-21-12.35-563x393.jpg" width="563" height="393" style="background-color: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(142, 155, 127); margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; clear: both; display: block; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;" /></font></a></p><p style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And here’s where Save Whatcom’s money comes from:<span id="more-32609" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;" /></font></p><p style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://daily.sightline.org/2013/10/21/coal-money-in-politics-whatcom-county/screenhunter_02-oct-21-12-10/" rel="attachment wp-att-32633" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-32633" alt="Whatcom coal money_pie" src="http://daily.sightline.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/2/files/2013/10/ScreenHunter_02-Oct.-21-12.10.jpg" width="557" height="442" style="background-color: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(142, 155, 127); margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; clear: both; display: block; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;" /></font></a></p><p style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Only a small fraction of the pro-coal money comes from Whatcom County, or anywhere in the Northwest for that matter. Almost all of it can be directly linked to firms or people with a strong financial interest in Northwest coal exports. And much of the coal money seems to originate from sources that tilt heavily toward Republican politics.</font></p><p style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Here’s a closer look at who’s behind coal money in Whatcom County.</font></p><p style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><h3 style="border: 0px; margin: 25px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(41, 66, 57); line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Cloud Peak Energy: $50,000</font></h3><p style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://cloudpeakenergy.com/contact-us/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">Based in Wyoming</a>, Cloud Peak is a “pure play” Powder River Basin coal company. For several reasons, it is probably the best-situated US company to compete in the Pacific Rim export market. In fact,&nbsp;<a title="Recent Coal Export Trends: Q2 2013" href="http://daily.sightline.org/2013/10/03/recent-coal-export-trends-q2-2013/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">it currently claims almost all</a>&nbsp;of the relatively small volumes of coal exported from the West Coast. Even so, times are tough for would-be coal exporters. So tough, in fact, that an analysis by Sightline showed that last quarter&nbsp;<a title="The Hidden Export Bombshell in Cloud Peak’s Financials" href="http://daily.sightline.org/2013/09/23/the-hidden-export-bombshell-in-cloud-peaks-financials/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">Cloud Peak made roughly 10 times as much money&nbsp;<em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">shorting</em>&nbsp;coal as by actually selling it</a>.</font></p><p style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The firm has&nbsp;<a href="http://gatewaypacificterminal.com/cloud-peak-energy-announces-option-agreement-with-ssa-marine-for-capacity-at-future-cape-size-export-terminal-in-pacific-northwest/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">already inked a deal to move 16 million tons of coal</a>&nbsp;through the Gateway Pacific terminal in Whatcom County, giving Cloud Peak a direct financial stake in the outcome of local elections there.</font></p><h3 style="border: 0px; margin: 25px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(41, 66, 57); line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Global Coal Sales: $50,000</font></h3><p style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=236500387" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">Ohio-based</a>&nbsp;Global Coal Sales is a privately held firm that appears to be primarily a marketer for coal mining companies. It was formed as a joint venture between an Ohio utility and Boich Companies.</font></p><p style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Boich Co. may be best known for its 38-year-old heir, billionaire playboy Wayne Boich Jr., who<a href="http://www.zimbio.com/dating/ZZg8Pi05-NH/Wayne+Boich+dated+Tara+Reid/Tara+Reid" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">once dated Tara Reid</a>&nbsp;and whose activities make him sound like a comic book villain.&nbsp;<a href="http://blogs.herald.com/scene_in_the_tropics/2012/07/coal-mining-heir-wayne-boich-jr-building-billionaire-bachelor-pad-on-north-bay-road.html" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">According to the Miami Herald</a>, for example, he bought three North Bay properties for $19.6 million in 2012 planning “to knock down all three homes and build one big billionaire bachelor pad.” (Photos of Boich, who appears to have chronic difficulties buttoning his shirt, are&nbsp;<a href="http://blogs.herald.com/scene_in_the_tropics/2012/07/coal-mining-heir-wayne-boich-jr-building-billionaire-bachelor-pad-on-north-bay-road.html" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">here</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=%22wayne+boich%22&client=firefox-a&hs=8lJ&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=JVRlUpmDEOXOigKXqIHoBg&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1252&bih=609&dpr=1.09" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">here</a>.) His father, Wayne Boich, is&nbsp;<a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2010/06/09/4015/john-boehner-pro-business-agenda" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">one of the biggest financial backers of US Speaker of the House, John Boehner</a>.</font></p><div class="post-middle-widgets" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="widget-holder" style="background-color: rgb(254, 250, 203); border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 170); margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 5px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><div class="textwidget" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Do you find this article interesting?&nbsp;<a href="http://www.sightline.org/giving/?code=blogmid32609" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">Please consider making a gift to support our work.</a></font></div></div></div><p style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Global Coal Sales is&nbsp;<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/12/03/globalcoal-asia-idUSJAK47646520091203" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">part owner</a>&nbsp;of the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/firstenergy-and-boich-companies-sell-partial-interest-in-signal-peak-coal-mine-to-gunvor-group-132043123.html" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">Signal Peak Mine</a>&nbsp;in Montana. It&nbsp;<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/12/03/globalcoal-asia-idUSJAK47646520091203" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">hopes to become a player</a>in US coal exports to Asia—and Westshore Terminals in British Columbia has claimed to ship Signal Peak coal—but it is probably best known for being&nbsp;<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Signal_Peak_Mine" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">plagued with problems</a>. As Derf Johnson has ably documented,&nbsp;<a href="http://meic.org/2013/05/signal-peak-energy-violates-safety-standards-disputes-fines/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">the company has avoided paying taxes even as it has been fined repeatedly</a>&nbsp;for sins such as failing to properly ventilate its mines, failing to prevent cave-ins, and failing to report workplace accidents.</font></p><p style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Global Coal Sales is also linked to Cloud Peak. According to&nbsp;<a href="http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2013/10/18/3265922/coal-interests-give-100k-to-save.html" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">reporting by Ralph Schwartz</a>, (and<a href="http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=236500387" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">other</a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/steve-read/18/8a4/597" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">sources</a>), the former head of export sales at Cloud Peak, Steve Read, took a job as executive VP of Global Coal Sales in May 2013.</font></p><h3 style="border: 0px; margin: 25px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57); line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Corbin and Barbara Robertson: $32,000</font></h3><p style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22.6563px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">With each of them throwing in $16,000, Corbin and Barbara Robertson of Houston, Texas are easily the largest pro-coal individual donors in Whatcom County. As the&nbsp;<a href="http://whatcomdemocrats.com/story/2013-10-18/big-coal-violates-law-elect-republicans" style="border: 0px; border-image-source: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">Whatcom County Democrats have pointed out</a>, the Robertsons are major league coal barons through their company, <font color="#ff0000">Quintana Minerals. In fact, according to&nbsp;<a href="http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2003/0120/060.html" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">a 2003 article in Forbes</a>, “Robertson sits atop the largest private hoard in the nation—21 billion tons of reserves he has quietly amassed over three decades.</font></font></p><p style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22.6563px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>They are also major league Republican donors.</b> Individually and through Quintana, they have<a href="http://data.influenceexplorer.com/contributions/#b3JnYW5pemF0aW9uX2Z0PVF1aW50YW5hJTIwTWluZXJhbHMmZ2VuZXJhbF90cmFuc2FjdGlvbl90eXBlPXN0YW5kYXJk" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to top Republican candidates</a>&nbsp;like&nbsp;<a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000036912" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">John Boehner, Mitt Romney, Ted Cruz</a>, and even groups you wouldn’t think would need outside money, such as the Idaho Republican Party.</font></p><p style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22.6563px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Robertsons are linked to the Northwest coal export debate. Corbin is&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nrplp.com/default.aspx/MenuItemID/508/MenuGroup/_About.htm" target="_blank" style="border: 0px; border-image-source: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">CEO of<b> Natural Resource Partners</b></a>&nbsp;(NRP), a Houston-based investment firm that owns coal, oil, and gas reserves. According to its website,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nrplp.com/default.aspx/MenuItemID/505/MenuGroup/_About.htm" style="border: 0px; border-image-source: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">40 percent of NRP’s holdings are made up by Arch Coal properties</a>, and Arch Coal badly wants into the Northwest export business. Arch has a&nbsp;<a href="http://news.archcoal.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=107109&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1515428&highlight" style="border: 0px; border-image-source: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">38 percent stake</a>&nbsp;in the Millennium Bulk Terminals proposal in Longview, Washington, and it is actively lobbying for new coal export capacity in Washington. (In fact, it was a conversation with a senior Arch Coal executive that recently&nbsp;<a title="Coal Export PR Flak Caught on Tape" href="http://daily.sightline.org/2013/10/08/coal-export-pr-flak-caught-on-tape/" style="border: 0px; border-image-source: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">landed PR flak Lauri Hennessey in hot water</a>.)</font></p><h3 style="border: 0px; margin: 25px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(41, 66, 57); line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">SSA Marine: $12,000</font></h3><p style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">SSA Marine’s contribution is the biggest by any Northwest interest. Based in Seattle,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ssamarine.com/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">SSA Marine</a>is a port terminal company that is the lead proponent of the Gateway Pacific coal port.</font></p><h3 style="border: 0px; margin: 25px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(41, 66, 57); line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Richard Donahue: $5,000</font></h3><p style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Donahue made his donation in late August, making him the first contributor on record for Whatcom County’s pro-coal PAC. He is a financial planner who lives in Bellingham. He runs&nbsp;<a href="http://assetadvisorsllc.net/about-us/meet-our-team/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">Asset Advisers LLC</a>&nbsp;from an office in the Fairhaven neighborhood, and he hosts a&nbsp;<a href="http://assetadvisorsllc.net/about-us/wealth-wake-up/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">weekend talk radio program</a>&nbsp;in town, “Wealth Wake Up with Dick Donahue.” Donahue appears to be&nbsp;<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnkjh9reoYs" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">affiliated with the Tea Party</a>&nbsp;as well as with&nbsp;<a href="http://www.irehr.org/issue-areas/treaty-rights-and-tribal-sovereignty/item/478-take-these-tribes-down" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">an anti-Indian movement</a>&nbsp;that aims to reduce the autonomy of tribes.</font></p><h3 style="border: 0px; margin: 25px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(41, 66, 57); line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Saturna Capital Corporation: $3,500</font></h3><p style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Occupying&nbsp;<a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&q=1300+n+state+st,+bellingham,+wa&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x5485a3be99dfc96f:0xc5770f0a219978e7,1300+N+State+St,+Bellingham,+WA+98225&gl=us&ei=UV9lUq39LqiciQLF6IHgBA&ved=0CC4Q8gEwAA" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">a nondescript building</a>&nbsp;in downtown Bellingham,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.saturna.com/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">Saturna Capital</a>&nbsp;is an investment firm that manages&nbsp;<a href="http://seattlebusinessmag.com/article/masters-money-saturna-capital" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">several billion dollars worth of mutual funds</a>. The firm has carved out a niche in<a href="http://www.amanafunds.com/retail/news/20120215bestislamicassetmngr.shtml" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">Islamic investing</a>, which requires abstaining from investing in banks, liquor, gambling, and other verboten enterprises.</font></p><p style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Saturna contribution is odd looking. According to the Washington Public Disclosure Commission,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.pdc.wa.gov/MvcQuerySystem/AdvancedSearch/ContributionsData?contributee=ALL&electionYear=ALL&dateFrom=&dateThru=&amountFrom=&amountThru=&committeeType=IGNORE&election=ALL&city=&state=&zip=&contributor=saturna&employer=&occupation=&description=" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">Saturna has only once before made any type of political contribution</a>. That was in 2003, and it was merely a few hundred bucks of “in-kind” contributions in the form of office space for an employee,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.brightscope.com/financial-planning/advisor/879816/Brett-A-Bonner/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">Brett Bonner</a>. And the firm itself is&nbsp;<a href="http://sustainableconnections.org/directory/saturna-capital" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">a member of Sustainable Connections</a>, a network of local Whatcom County businesses that aim to “<a href="http://sustainableconnections.org/about/vision/index_html" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">model an economy built on sustainable practices</a>.”</font></p><p style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On the other hand,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.pdc.wa.gov/MvcQuerySystem/AdvancedSearch/ContributionsData?contributee=ALL&electionYear=ALL&dateFrom=&dateThru=&amountFrom=&amountThru=&committeeType=IGNORE&election=ALL&city=&state=&zip=&contributor=&employer=saturna&occupation=&description=" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">Saturna CEO Nicholas Kaiser is a major donor to Republican campaigns</a>, including an August 2013 gift of $6,400 to the Whatcom County GOP—<a href="http://www.pdc.wa.gov/MvcQuerySystem/CommitteeData/contributions?param=V0hBVFJQIDIyNw====&year=2013&type=party_county" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">the largest donation to the party</a>&nbsp;by far—as well as smaller contributions to unsuccessful gubernatorial candidates Rob McKenna and Dino Rossi. Other employees also show up as smaller donors to Republican candidates, including to&nbsp;<a href="http://daily.sightline.org/2013/06/07/weekend-reading-6713/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">the&nbsp;<em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">bete noir</em>&nbsp;of state climate policy, Senator Doug Ericksen</a>.</font></p><p style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If the $3,500 contribution to Save Whatcom comes from Saturna Capital itself, as it appears, that makes it ripe for a local divestment campaign of some sort. If, on the other hand, the contribution actually originates from Kaiser or some other Saturna employee, then it is in clear violation of state election law and should be corrected immediately.</font></p><h3 style="border: 0px; margin: 25px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(41, 66, 57); line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">What’s next?</font></h3><p style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Whatcom County Democrats have filed a formal complaint with the state attorney general,<a href="http://whatcomdemocrats.com/sites/default/files/45-day%20citizen%20letter%20Whatcom%20Coal%20Money.pdf" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">alleging numerous illegalities</a>&nbsp;by the pro-coal PAC. Yet with&nbsp;<a href="https://wei.sos.wa.gov/agency/osos/en/voters/Pages/vote_by_mail.aspx" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57);">a vote-by-mail system in Washington</a>and ballots already arriving at voter’s homes, time is exceedingly short for both sides.</font></p><div class="post-bottom-widgets" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 22.6563px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="widget-holder" style="border: 0px; border-image-source: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;"><h3 class="widget-title" style="border: 0px; border-image-source: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; margin: 0px 0px 8px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(41, 66, 57); background-color: transparent;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">We are a community-supported resource and we can’t do this work without you!</font></h3><div class="textwidget" style="border: 0px; border-image-source: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;"><a href="http://www.sightline.org/giving/?code=blogbtm32609" style="border: 0px; border-image-source: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(41, 66, 57); background-color: transparent;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Please make a donation today and help keep us running.</font></a></div></div></div></div></div></div>