This past year was a rollercoaster ride for communities across the Northwest fighting major fracked gas infrastructure projects. On the one hand, scientifically-baseless environment impact statements were submitted for Kalama Methanol and approved for Tacoma LNG. On the other hand, Washington State governor Jay Inslee came out against both those projects last spring and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality denied a necessary permit for Jordan Cove LNG. Then in November the Washington State Department of Ecology rejected the final supplemental environmental impact statement (FEIS) for Kalama methanol and announced that they would undertake writing the FSEIS themselves, addressing the greenhouse gas emission and other pollution concerns raised by the project's opponents.
On this episode of Locus Focus, we look back at 2019 and ahead to 2020, with Eric de Place, Director of the Thin Green Line at Sightline Institute in Seattle. We talk about the successes and frustrations of the past year and what to expect as we head into 2020.
Here's Eric's suggested reading list for the coming year. He recommends that you read these articles in this order:
1. https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2020/1/3/21045263/climate-change-1-5-degrees-celsius-target-ipcc
2. https://lithub.com/letter-to-a-young-climate-activist-on-the-first-day-of-the-new-decade/
- KBOO