BS Oregon cannot get locals to come out in mass to support LNG so they bussed some union members in from Portland and Vancouver. Dressed in their chartreuse BS Oregon t-shirts they came well coached and spread out through the auditorium to show support for the Jordan Cove LNG project.
The group also took up many of the tickets used to pick questioners from the audience and when their number was called by the emcee, Commissioner Melissa Cribbins, gave their turn to their union reps. Wyden, ever the politician, tells the crowd “if we do this right, we can have it all.” Then receives cheers from the chartreuse rent-a-supporters when he claims that natural gas produces half the emissions of coal. (The good news, evidently, is that all these guys do believe in global warming). However, according to the “Cornell Study” Wyden is wrong.
Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, with a global warming potential that is far greater than that of carbon dioxide, particularly over the time horizon of the first few decades following emission. Methane contributes substantially to the greenhouse gas footprint of shale gas on shorter time scales, dominating it on a 20-year time horizon. The footprint for shale gas is greater than that for conventional gas or oil when viewed on any time horizon, but particularly so over 20 years. Compared to coal, the footprint of shale gas is at least 20% greater and perhaps more than twice as great on the 20-year horizon and is comparable when compared over 100 years.
One of the most powerful statements of the evening came from Douglas County rancher, Bill Gow. Gow, a former iron worker and still a union member described how he had worked hard to acquire his ranch and timber property so that his family could make a living off the land for generations to come. The proposed Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline will cut a wide swatch through two miles of his land which he may lose to eminent domain. There were gasps from the chartreuse crowd when Gow said he had been offered only $14,000 by the pipeline company and afterwards many of them approached him to say they had no idea this project would impact people in this way.
Things got really ugly when Tim Bishop, who curiously still likes to take credit for instigating the environmental and economic disaster known as the county owned gas pipeline, made a personal attack on Jody McCaffree, director of Citizens Against LNG and all “those people against everything.” It was ugly and inappropriate and Cribbins did nothing to stop him and once I get the video I will write more about this.
Wyden says his long awaited forest resources bill will be announced in the company of Governor Kitzhaber and members of the timber industry on Tuesday. Once again, “we can have it all” and increase the cutting of federal timber and still keep the environmentalists happy. “We can end these forest wars for good”!, he says. If his bill means to privatize more of the commons, particularly in a state where the timber industry doesn’t pay its fair share in property taxes on its own land, then the forest wars will have only just begun.
Wyden did say that he had voted to eliminate tax breaks given to companies using foreign labor for manufacturing.
You want to talk about the facts. Heres a few for you to consider. You have not said anything that has not been repeated over many times by many shills that were brought here to sell us on jordan cove. We have seen an army of shills working for the local paper for more than ten years. They all say the same types of things.
Not one opponent to LNG has said that we don’t need jobs. We just say we don’t need those jobs here for this area to prosper, and all proponents think that this is their savior.
To me, your driving down here to help promote this bomb in our community would be like me coming to your front door, taking a crap on your front porch and then tell you not to worry because I just created a job for someone to clean up your porch.
Keep your crap at home please.
I would like to talk about the facts regarding this story, please do see the video and if it is not edited you will see that those in the auditorium that lived and worked in Coos County with the chartreuse shirts on were asked to stand and they far outnumbered those of us that rode down on the bus or drove down in our own cars. Please also note that not one person on the bus or drove their own cars was compensated in anyway for them taking a Sunday of their time to either drive or ride a bus to Coos Bay to show support for this project. We have been well educated on this issue not brainwashed as some people think. As to us taking all of the tickets so those in opposition could not speak. In truth we far outnumbered the people in opposition, but Senator Wyden took many questions from those in opposition even though their tickets were not drawn. Everyone that was there will speak to this fact. If you watch the video you will see that in fact more questions were allowed for those in opposition then from those of us that were there in support. So this was a fair process for all those that were in opposition. I am still trying to figure out how anti-gravity playes into energy but there was a lady in the anti-LNG side wanting the Senator to look into it.
I would hope that a truly educated person would do the necessary work to read all of the facts and look at it from both sides rather than from just a biased anti-LNG view. We need to have a safer transition fuel to get to where we all want to go and just blind opposition is not the answer.
over 140 new people enter the world every minute above what go out by death, while this might not sound like much, do the math. That is over 200,000 people every day. Each with a hunger and need for energy for almost everything in their life. If we continue to just blindly say wait for everything to be renewable energy such as wind, solar, geo-thermal, hydro or some other renewable which unfortunately many of those that oppose LNG would still oppose and we continue to have the same problem, more greenhouse gasses leading to our destruction. We need a safer alternative to Coal and Heavy Oil, LNG can provide this transition.
Yes lets not forget the Cornell Study, it has been proved that greenhouse gasses (Methane) from the artic tundra, ocean formations, farm animals and yes humans, close to 7 billion create far more methane in a couple of days than what will be released from shale formations. But lets not let the truth get in the way of a good story.
Respectfully Submitted
Dennis J. Coplin
Interesting that you noted Tim Bishop still takes credit for the county pipeline. And he should!! Don’t you know that he and Doug Fletcher (they were called the FONSI Twins) received the 1999 “Men of the Year” awards, from the Chamber, wasn’t it? The award was specifically for their parts in passing the 1999 pipeline bond.
Weren’t jobs the bait that time also? Didn’t Nikki eventually promise 1900 jobs?
And that bond only passed by less than 600 votes and those came only after Thelma Reuben and Anita Conn – Republican blue hairs – came out for it.
And here we go again. Let’s build a monstrosity on a spit on percolating underground water in a red tsunami zone with prevailing westerlies and pat ourselves on the back. For Jobs! For the Kids!
“We can have it all!!!”
PS: I wouldn’t wash my armpits with a cloth the color of those tee shirts.
There is no political will to halt the fossil fuel industry among the elected democrats. If you vote for any of these democrats or any democrat, you should not expect to see any change. The party has sold out the people that thought they were getting something different from what the republicans are offering. They are both offering the same thing.
Vote Green party. Give up on the Democrats once and for all. They have sold out, the forests, the land, the water, and the air.
Yes, I have voted third party since 1992!
“We can have it all.”
Americans refuse to acknowledge that we are part of a global economy and controlled by corporations.
I am amazed how eager many are to sell our precious resources for temp jobs.
Timber and fossil fuel co’s don’t pay taxes, they lowball and play hardball on property taxes and change the rules in their favor, breaking promises to earn another dollar.
And many Americans say, “well that is what businesses do”. It is like the Stockholm syndrome.
When we give facts, facts about these specific companies and their broken promises, we are ignored.
You can bet those corp’s will demand we come running when disaster happens on their watch.
You are selling our precious little remaining resources for temp jobs.
Not to mention – suffocating us even faster. Well done guys.
Amazing.