The State of Oregon has authority to stop the Jordan Cove LNG export terminal and Pacific Connector fracked gas pipeline, but Governor Brown and many of our state legislators still have not come out against it. On Thursday, March 28th communities across Oregon will go to the Oregon State Capitol to meet with our legislators and ask them to oppose the fracked gas project proposed in Southern Oregon.
RSVP today at bit.ly/nolnglobby
Please fill out the RSVP form (bit.ly/nolnglobby) if you’re interested in joining the “2019 No LNG Lobby Day” on Thursday, March 28. The day will include a lobby training in the morning and meetings with your legislators throughout the day. More details to come!
More info about the Jordan Cove LNG export terminal and Pacific Connector Pipeline:
A Canadian fossil fuel corporation want to build the Pacific Connector pipeline across public and private lands in southern Oregon to transport up to 1.6 billion cubic feet of fracked gas per year from Canada and the Rockies to Coos Bay, where it would be processed to liquefied natural gas (LNG) and shipped overseas from a giant new terminal called Jordan Cove LNG. Pembina, a giant Canadian energy company would make massive profits, while the rest of us would pay the price.
Trampling on farmer and landowner rights: If landowners along the pipeline route don’t accept a small, one-time payment for permanent use of their land for the pipeline, the government will grant Pembina the power of eminent domain to force them to anyway. After 13 years, Pembina still has less than 40% of contracts with landowners.
Threats to traditional tribal territories: Cultural resources, traditional tribal territories and burial grounds are threatened by both the the pipeline route and the export facility. The Karuk, Yurok, and Klamath Tribes have openly opposed the fracked gas project.
Huge backward step on climate: According to the U.S. Department of Energy, exporting natural gas from the US to Asia could end up being worse from a greenhouse gas perspective than if China simply built a new power plant and burned its own coal supplies. The terminal would also become the largest source of climate pollution in the state, amounting to up to 15 times the last remaining coal plant in the state of Oregon. Fracking wells that would supply this project have been documented to leak substantial amounts of methane – a powerful greenhouse gas that can make fracked gas projects much worse than coal in a 20-year timeframe.
Serious safety risk: LNG facilities and natural gas pipelines are highly explosive. For example, in 2014, the Plymouth LNG facility in Washington exploded, injuring workers and forcing hundreds of residents to evacuate their homes. The Jordan Cove terminal would be built in a region vulnerable to tsunamis, while the pipeline, full of high-pressure gas, would pass through an area with a high risk of wild fires.
Higher energy prices: Exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) “puts pressure on prices and that wouldn’t be good for consumers,” according to Avista Senior V.P. Jason Thackston in 2014.
Threats to existing jobs and businesses: The pipeline will affect farms and fishing businesses as it disturbs more than 400 waterways and damages salmon and steelhead habitat. “Horizontal Directional Drilling” would happen under the Klamath, Rogue, Umpqua, and Coquille Rivers, threatening our rivers with pipeline drilling accidents called “frack outs”. This drilling technique has led to major spills and water contamination in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Major local impacts, few jobs: More than 1,000 temporary residents from outside our communities will descend on the region during the construction phase. Corporate CEOs promise that dozens of jobs will remain after construction, but history has proven that such promises are rarely kept.
Clean energy development creates far more jobs than fracked gas: Each dollar invested in clean energy creates two to seven times as many jobs as spending that dollar on fossil fuels. Businesses, elected officials, and community residents in the Rogue Valley have been working together to speed our transition to cleaner energy like solar and to greater energy efficiency. This project threatens all the progress we are making.