Commentary by Samuel Strait – May 19, 2022 With all of the current problems being faced by North Coast residents you would think our State representatives would be spending a majority of their time seeking solutions to those problems. State Senator for the North Coast, Mike McGuire is too busy trying to emulate the denseness of the brain that currently occupies the Governor's mansion, in Sacramento, Presently occupied with a largely theater like performance to stop "toxic coal trains" from traveling up the coast via an old rail line that hasn't been used in years. The defunct North Coast rail line which formerly allowed train traffic north out of Willits is the target of Senator McGuire's recent outrage when his pet project of turning the line into a hiking and biking path connecting San Francisco Bay with Humboldt Bay had been derailed when the prospect of a private company objecting to this conversion. Seems they have $1.2 billion to invest in restoring the line for use hauling freight to Humboldt County. While it is likely that McGuire is more concerned about the loss of his "new" toy, the hiking/biking path, he claims that the rail line is to be used as a pathway for coal out of Utah to a trans shipment point in Humboldt for shipping coal out of the country to Asian customers. In Asia, where there is a market for coal to generate power, could provide a customer for the Utah coal. As coal has become "persona non grata" here in the US in favor of natural gas, Montana, Utah, and Colorado, all land locked states which produce millions of tons of coal each year are looking for new markets overseas. Seems there are countries in the world that are not as concerned with "climate change" as some are here in this country. They, as a consequence have elected to use coal as a cheap energy source to power their respective economies. Since they currently receive coal from Australia the chance that they would elect to purchase coal from Utah is a stretch at best. But, worry not citizens of the North Coast as evaluation of the proposed train route have not penciled out as a favorable shipment prospect for the coal mines in Utah. Coal would still be much cheaper if purchased from Australia. Nice that our fuzzy climate hugging Senator seemed to be unaware that all his worked up outrage was pointless, just as the vacuum in his brain can't seem to focus on "real" problems to be solved here on the North Coast. Climate change is most certainly well down the list of issues occupying most who live in Del Norte County. The prospect of "toxic coal trains" rumbling down the track as though this was 1850's will not be on the radar for those planning for Mr. McGuire's reelection bid this November. We here in this County would certainly like to think that Last Chance Grade might be just a bit higher on the urgency list than even the prospect of a pointless and expensive launch into the "Great Redwood Trail" a three hundred and sixteen mile hiking extravagance that does little to satisfy local needs. But, hey, what are our representatives good for, not much. When it comes to generating a viable economy that is competitive with our neighbor twenty miles up 101 to the North, not so much as a whisper. When it comes to solving our housing crunch, or homelessness crisis, missing in action. How about Last Chance Grade, yes, maybe by 2039? There are likely many more issues where Senator Dimwit could be of help, but his back is always poised to be turned to the North in his district. Votes from Del Norte County are pretty slim pickings for him, but in the climate change South in his district, any effort by him to appear to be "saving the planet" from that dastardly faux problem of "toxic coal trains" is right in his wheel house. It is a shame that Del Norte County remains tied to the likes of Senator Mike McGuire.