As I've documented in previous posts, the organized environmental left is marshalling forces to oppose Powder River Basin (PRB) coal exports to Asia via ports in the Pacific Northwest. Despite their best efforts at fear mongering about supposed environmental effects, local officials are beginning to push back against the prevailing narrative. Realizing that the opposition is based on faulty premises, and realizing the potential economic impact, several local officials are beginning to come out of the woodwork to support this idea.

As I posted earlier, coal producers are trying to secure approval to ship Powder River Basin (PRB) coal overseas to Asian markets, while environmental extremists are attempting to make this the Spotted Owl fight of modern times. The environmental movement has established this as their beachhead, and are pulling out all the stops.

For the past several years, coal industry officials have been attempting to secure approval to ship coal from Pacific Northwest ports to expanding markets in Asia. This would entail approval to increase rail shipments from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana to new or greatly expanded terminals in Washington and Oregon.

"Credit expansion and inflationary increase of the quantity of money frustrate the common man's attempts to save and to accumulate reserves for less propitious days." Ludwig von Mises, in Human Action.

There is a move afoot in Washington DC to give the city autonomy of over its finances. While this may sound good on the surface, there are unintendend consequences, and it may not be constitutional. As a federal district, the District of Columbia is funded solely by federal tax dollars.Dean Clancy, FreedomWorks Vice President, says,

This month, the Pew Research Center released its annual State of the News Media Report. The results are grim. The report portrays an industry that is calcified, monolithic and unwilling to overcome the bias that, like an aggressive form of cancer, is causing its death from the inside out. The mainstream media complex is clearly on life support.The opening of the report is devastating:

FreedomWorks recently hosted a conference call for bloggers and reporters with the House Republican Doctors Caucus. The forum allowed caucus members to make statements regarding the third anniversary of the passage of Obamacare, and the murky future of this deeply flawed legislation. Bloggers and reporters were given the opportunity to ask questions of the caucus members, leading to a lively discussion on the future of health care under this onerous bill.

On Saturday, Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin addressed CPAC, and according to at least one observer, was the best speaker of the conference. After he finished, he agreed to address a small gathering of bloggers to expand on the points he made in his speech.Of his main speech, Solomon Yue, Oregon RNC National Committeeman, said,

This week, the Republican National Committee released an "autopsy" on how the GOP lost the election in 2012 and where it can improve its branding going forward. William Jacobsen of Legal Insurrection noted that the 100 page report failed to mention New Media and bloggers as an opportunity to improve communications.

This is not a story about policy or legislation. This is a story about journalism, and the all too cozy relationship between 'reporters' and the public officials they're supposed to hold accountable. It's been two weeks since Democrat State Senator Ginny Burdick of Oregon was to have held a town hall to answer questions on the current legislative session.