===Activists rally in Portland against exporting coal from Northwest ports===
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On May 7, 2012 several hundred activists gathered in Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square to oppose the export of Montana and Wyoming coal from Northwest ports. Activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., chief prosecuting attorney for Hudson Riverkeeper and president of the Waterkeeper Alliance, spoke to the crowd. Kennedy said that coal would corrupt politicians, damage health and the environment and "turn government agencies into the sock puppets of the industries they're supposed to regulate."<ref>[http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2012/05/activists_rally_in_portland_ag.html "Kennedy, activists rally in Portland against exporting coal from Northwest ports"] Scott Learn, Oregonian, May 7, 2012.</ref>