EUGH Coal trains
Ruh roh. Eric de Place from the Sightline Institute raises the alarm:

In a classic instance of the revolving door between government and industry, Governor Inslee has decided to hire Matt Steuerwalt as the director of his policy office effective May 1. In recent years, Steuerwalt has acted as a lead lobbyist for coal-fired power in Washington, as well as for a now-defunct coal export proposal. The news was first announced by Steuerwalt in a mass email sent last night.

The state is now wrestling with two major policy issues connected to coal: whether to permit large-scale coal export terminals and whether to phase out coal-fired electricity imported from other states. Given that Steuerwalt has recently been a paid lobbyist in support of coal in Washington, the move raises question about whether he will use his influence in the Inslee administration to advance an agenda more favorable to the coal industry.

This is the opposite of a promising sign for efforts, which hinge on decisions that will be made by the Inslee administration, to stop dirty coal terminals from sprouting up around the state, which come with trains transporting coal that pass through Seattle.

I've reached out to Governor Inslee's office and Steuerwalt himself for their response and will update if I hear back.

UPDATE: A spokesperson for the Governor responds, "The choice of a policy director will have no impact on the state’s role in reviewing coal export projects. The governor has a longstanding and well-known position on carbon pollution and climate change and he has directed the Department of Ecology to conduct a rigorous review of current coal projects to the full extent allowed under state law. None of that will change when Matt assumes his new role May 1."