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Cross-posted from Rogue Climate
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2019
CONTACT: Allie Rosenbluth, allie@rogueclimate.org, 541-816-2240
HUNDREDS GATHER IN SALEM TO DEMAND THAT GOVERNOR BROWN OPPOSE JORDAN COVE LNG TERMINAL & PIPELINE
[Salem, OR] – Only days after the Federal Government released their Final Environmental Impact Statement on the Jordan Cove LNG export terminal and fracked gas pipeline, hundreds will assemble on the steps of the Oregon State Capitol Building to urge Governor Kate Brown to take a stand against the project before the Federal Government makes its final decision about the project in early 2020. The rally begins on Thursday, November 21 at 11AM on the Steps of the Oregon State Capitol.
Even if the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) grants approval for the Jordan Cove LNG export project in February, Governor Kate Brown and Oregon’s state agencies have the power to deny critical permits and stop Jordan Cove LNG for good.
The rally attendees had a clear call to action for Governor Kate Brown to:
- Declare opposition to the Jordan Cove LNG export terminal and Pacific Connector Pipeline. Governors in Washington and New York have recently opposed similar fracked gas projects.
- Support agency staff in enforcing Oregon’s regulations in Jordan Cove LNG’s permitting process.
- Continue to advocate for the protection of state decision-making authority under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act which is currently threatened by changes proposed by the Federal Government; and
- Prepare to challenge FERC if the agency approves the project.
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Speakers and attendees at the rally spoke to the urgency of Governor Brown supporting communities threatened by the Jordan Cove LNG project. Speakers included: Chairman of the Klamath Tribes Don Gentry; impacted landowner Bill Gow; Hoopa Tribal member Thomas Joseph II; Klamath-Modoc artist Ka’ila Farrell-Smith; Coos Bay commercial fisherman Sam Schwarz; Oregon State Representative Pam Marsh; family medicine doctor Patricia Kulberg, MD, MPH, and South Medford High School student Eliza Viden.
“How can a Canadian company shipping Canadian natural gas for export be allowed to use American eminent domain law against my family to take my property? It’s just not right,” said Bill Gow, impacted landowner and rancher in Douglas County. “Private property rights is an American value that shouldn’t be squashed for a big corporation with lots of money just to turn a profit.”
“A few months ago I refused a once in a lifetime opportunity to hang my paintings in Governor Brown’s office because of her silence on Jordan Cove LNG,” said Klamath-Modoc artist Ka’ila Farrell-Smith. “Governor Brown cannot claim to be an ally of indigenous peoples without taking a stand against and stopping this fracked gas pipeline that threatens our sacred sites, the natural resources we have harvested for millennia, and the safety of our women.”
“If built, Jordan Cove LNG’s impact on our climate and our bay would be devastating,” said Chase Kazzee, student at Southwest Oregon Community College who drove up to the rally from Coos Bay in a van of 15 students. “Governor Kate Brown has the power to be a climate leader and stand up for my generation by stopping Jordan Cove LNG before it ever gets permits.”
“The Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) represents nearly 15,000 Oregon Registered Nurses and strongly opposes the Jordan Cove LNG export terminal and the related Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline,” said the Oregon Nurses Association in a statement. “This project will degrade Oregonians’ water quality, harm the health of communities throughout the region, contribute to climate change and irrevocably alter our landscape. This project is not in the best interest of the state of Oregon.”
The Jordan Cove LNG project has been strongly opposed by impacted landowners, tribal members, youth, commercial fishermen, rafters, business owners, health professionals, and allies from across Oregon and northern California for over a decade. Over 90,000 comments opposed to the project have been submitted to permit review processes in 2019 alone.
The Jordan Cove LNG export project would trample the private property rights of private landowners, impact the traditional territories and cultural resources of local Tribes, put hundreds of waterways and the drinking water of over 150,000 people at risk, threaten existing jobs in fishing and crabbing, pose a new major wildfire risk, and become the single largest source of climate pollution in Oregon.
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