We’re still celebrating last week’s massive victory stopping the Jordan Cove LNG project and wanted to make sure you had a chance to celebrate with us too! Your work helped make this victory happen.
Last week, Pembina Pipeline Co. filed a formal request to FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, stating it has “decided not to move forward” with the Jordan Cove LNG project and asking FERC to cancel its permit. Pembina said the corporation “remains concerned regarding the ability to obtain the necessary state permits in the immediate future in addition to other external obstacles.”
If Pembina had gotten its way, they would have built the Jordan Cove LNG export facility and Pacific Connector Pipeline across 230 miles of Southern Oregon, crossing through forests, rivers, tribal lands, and people’s backyards, and threatening the drinking water of over one hundred thousand people. The export facility would have permanently damaged the Coos Bay estuary and coastal communities’ way of life. The entire project’s emissions would have been the equivalent of building 15 new coal-fired power plants, all to ship fracked gas overseas.
This victory is a testament to the power of grassroots organizing.
For years, over 50,000 Oregonians (like you!) wrote and filed comments with state agencies, voicing concerns about this project’s effects on Oregon’s drinking water and state lands. We attended public hearings, marched along the pipeline route and rallied in Salem, wrote letters and op-eds, called the Governor, pressured the banks that gave loans and financially supported the project, and made beautiful art. Perhaps most importantly, the Oregon climate justice community worked together, making new connections with one another that remain to this day. Because of our collective work, state agencies delivered strong permit denials that Pembina couldn’t recover from.
Photos from the Nov 21, 2019 rally and sit-in at Governor Kate Brown’s office. Nearly 700 people rallied at the Capitol, demanding the Governor use her authority to stop Jordan Cove LNG. Nearly 80 people followed the lead of directly-impacted community members, staging a 9-hour sit-in where 21 people were arrested. Many see this action as a clear turning point in the campaign, since shortly after, U.S. Representative Peter DeFazio publicly came out against the project for the first time, followed by U.S Senator Ron Wyden, then FERC upheld Oregon’s decision to deny key permits for the project. This is a clear example of the power of grassroots organizing and nonviolent direct action.
If you believe in the power of grassroots organizing, would you consider making a donation to 350PDX to support our involvement in campaigns like this in 2022 and beyond? We’re committed to a world where energy is clean and safe for our communities and climate, where fossil fuels stay in the ground, and where disastrous projects like these are cancelled for good. This victory is another reminder that grassroots organizing is the solution and we are already winning, we just need to keep going.
I truly want to thank everyone, from the bottom of my heart, for being involved in this fight for so long and not giving up. Even in the face of insurmountable odds, the people have won. I am so, so proud of us and this movement we’re in together. Thank you.
With immense gratitude,
Dineen O’Rourke,
Campaign Manager, 350PDX
