Climate Action Friends around the Pacific Northwest,
What great turn out for the Port Commission Hearings to show opposition to Seattle becoming a home base for Shell's Arctic Oil Drilling! The national press has now noticed what's going on in the Northwest: Oil Stirs Revolt in Green Seattle, New York Times. The story quotes Councilman Mike O'Brien: "Hosting the Arctic drilling fleet in the city of Seattle is an activity that, if successful in drilling and extracting oil from the Arctic, will almost certainly mean that all of the industrial land in Seattle will be under water, and is completely inconsistent with the region’s and even the port’s goals"
Groups have come together in the Coalition for Port Accountability and a law suit has been filed over the process followed by the Port Commissioners in approving the lease. Local coverage of last week's hearing in the Stranger "Protesters Forced Seattle's Arctic Drilling Deal Onto the Port Commission Agenda Yesterday" captures the impact of local activists!
Everyone who turned out has contributed to raising this obstacle to Arctic Drilling! Great work!
South of Seattle on the Columbia River, in Longview, WA, on Tuesday, March 10th, the Port Commission rejected a lease for Haven Energy to have propane export terminal "voicing concerns about safety and true economic impact of the $300 million project."The Daily News Onlineline. The activists from around Longview and the lower Columbia River have done a great job to shine the light on the true impacts of fossil fuel exports there. There were twice as many in attendance opposing the port lease that in support of it.
All around the Pacific Northwest active citizens and community members have raised awareness to the risks from fossil fuel exports!