Sightline has tracked Northwest fossil fuel transport developments since 2010 when the region saw its first proposal for large-scale coal exports. Since that time, communities from Coos Bay, Oregon, to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, have weathered wave after wave of schemes from the coal, oil, and gas industries. Yet, much to the surprise of most observers, Cascadia has proven enormously resilient: tribes and First Nations, environmental advocates, and scores of others have defeated nearly ever project they’ve opposed.
Today, Sightline is publishing a new interactive map of the Northwest’s fight against dirty energy shipment schemes—the movement that Sightline calls the Thin Green Line. The map is designed to write the history of these controversies even as it tracks new and emerging threats to the region.
Our research team will update and elaborate the map as things change. We hope you’ll take a close look and let us know what you think.
Hello. Thank you for creating this. I am a citizen of Douglas County, Oregon and would like to suggest an edit to the map. The Jordan Cove and Pacific Connector projects are back on the table. The “dead” and “maybe dead” dots are accurate, as the project was defeated once before. However, one of the previous companies involved (Veresen) has reactivated the project (Williams is no longer involved in this new one).
The new application for the almost identical project is being considered by FERC (docket number PF17-4-000) and scoping meetings will begin in a week, 6/27 in Coos Bay (unless the thin green line can push them back to the required 90-120 days from notice time-frame, instead of the two weeks they gave).
Thank you for your time
Rindy, thanks for sending this. I’ll look into it and figure out whether to update those items. Please do send along information that’s germane.
Based on the company’s notice of intent to prepare an EIS I updated both projects to reflect “active proposal” status.
Hi Eric!
Great resource!!! Thank you.
I was familiarizing myself with the tool, and noticed a correction is in order. PGE has an active proposal to sell the Port Westward tank farm to CPBR as an oil terminal. I sent letters to Governor Brown and a VP at PGE, encouraging them that there is more value to scrapping that tank farm than selling it, based on the current political climate.
Is there a mechanism where your “fan club” can send you updates so you can keep the tool current. Thanks again for the great work.
Thanks, Bob.
On the Westward oil train facility, that’s a tricky one in part because there’s nothing like a clear permit application for crude-by-rail. Still, I think you’re right that we should characterize it differently on the map. (BTW, Sightline wrote about that project here: https://sightline.wpenginepowered.com/2017/06/07/another-columbia-river-oil-trains-proposal/)
Updates are very welcome! You can leave comments here or email me at eric@sightline.org.
This is a terrible map! I’d would have liked to see a much more detailed area around Tacoma. As a former map maker, I think people deserve to have a more accurate map to really see what is really happening and how it will affect them.
Fred Veler
Tacoma
Fred, it’s a Google map, so it’s quite accurate even at a very small scale. You can zoom into any local area and find the precise location of fossil fuel projects relative to the surrounding communities.
Is the focus of this map transportation-related projects (i.e., the movement of fossil fuels?) If so, you should clarify this in your introductory language.
The map appears to omit proposed new natural gas power plants. Friends of the Columbia Gorge and our allies have had some great success against new natural gas power plants in Oregon. We stopped the Troutdale Energy Center in Troutdale, Oregon in early 2016, and in 2017 we got the Carty Generating Station (Units 2 and 3) in Boardman, Oregon put on indefinite hold.
Information about all proposed natural gas power plants in the region can be found at the websites of the Washington EFSEC and the Oregon EFSC.
Nathan Baker, Senior Staff Attorney
Friends of the Columbia Gorge
Fair point, Nathan. In this map we’re tracking proposals to move fossil fuels. I’ve amended the language accordingly.
Went to an educational talk given by Tarika Mallory in Everett WA last month and learned so much about LNG. I see on Snohomish County Website a company by the name of Northwest Pipeline LLC has applied for a public access permit for using county and state roads into unincorporated parts of Snohomish County for construction of a natural gas system through our county. The County Engineer is recommending adoption of this request and signed off on December 17, 2017. What does this group know about that company, its request for access. According to the application this company is from Delaware but I am suspicious of it being a shell for PSE and its development of more and more LNG.
It’s Tarika Powell (not Mallory).
The project you’re referring to is called the North Seattle Lateral: https://investor.williams.com/press-release/williams/williams-partners-northwest-pipeline-seeks-ferc-approval-north-seattle-latera
The project is backed by Williams, which is the dominant gas pipeline owner/operator in the Northwest, and built to expand PSE’s gas delivery system. It’s not connected to LNG development, but it is certainly an elaboration of the region’s fossil fuel system. As far as I know, the project is not facing any coordinated opposition.
Thanks for this highly educational map. We would love to see you add the sites of struggles in California where we like to think of ourselves as part of the Thin Green Line. For over three years, Oakland has been fighting construction of a coal terminal with capacity of 10 million MT per year. Richmond, site of an immense Chevron refinery, is beginning to fight an existing coal export facility that has been polluting vulnerable neighborhoods for over 50 years. And Vallejo is in the midst of a pitch battle over a proposed marine terminal that would bring a cement factory and potential coal shipments to its port. We take inspiration from the struggles to our north as we try to hold the line here.
Ted Franklin
Co-coordinator
“nocoalinoakland.org”>No Coal in Oakland
System Change Not Climate Change!