From gCaptain:
Oregon County Overwhelmingly Rejects Measure to Block LNG Export Terminal
A coastal Oregon county overwhelmingly rejected a ballot measure aimed at blocking a proposed natural gas terminal dealing a blow to what was the latest in a series of efforts to thwart energy projects across the Pacific Northwest.
The measure, had it passed, would have banned transport of fossil fuels not intended for local use through Coos County, located about 200 miles (322 kms) south of Portland.
Around 76 percent of votes were cast against the measure, with 24 percent in favor, according to unofficial results posted on the Coos County government website late Tuesday.
Unfortunately, there is still a lot of Gang Green activity in these parts:
Last year, the Lummi Nation Native American tribe and environmental groups blocked an export terminal in Northwest Washington state that would have moved Montana and Wyoming coal to markets in Asia.
In January, Washington State denied a permit for a coal export terminal in the city of Longview, citing concerns about the financial viability of the project.
In February, bowing to pressure from activists, Seattle’s city council voted to divest approximately $3 billion from Wells Fargo, citing concerns over the bank’s support of the North Dakota Access Pipeline, among other factors.
All of these bad for business, bad for local employment and the environmental "concerns" are ludicrous. This is not anything new - Cherry Point is currently the home of an aluminum plant and a refinery. They were proposing to develop a sea terminal for shipping coal to China and Australia and this was shut down by the environmentalists. The only problem is that back in 1999, the environmentalists received huge concessions from the developers with the understanding that Cherry Point would be permitted to become a multi-use heavy industry site. The PDF document can be found here. The signatories are Pacific International Terminals (the developers), Whatcom County, the State of Washington Departments of Ecology, Department of Fish and Wildlife, the North Cascade Audubon Society, People for Puget Sound, the League of Women Voters, Ocean Advocates, and Washington Environmental Council. All these people signed off on the agreement and now they want to re-write history and take it back.
Further development would have been a goldmine for our County and our State - with just the aluminum plant and the refinery, Cherry Point either directly or indirectly hires 11% of the Whatcom county labor force and they contribute over $200 Million dollars in tax revenues. Let us hope that this can be revisited at a later date - my gut reaction is that the Lummi Indians were not in the original agreement and they weren't offered enough money with this new one. It is all about the Benjamins - want to understand some strange political transaction? Follow the money.
Leave a comment