Good news out of Columbia County. An initiative very similar to The Coos County Right to a Sustainable Energy Future Ordinance has been approved by the county clerk and is now out for a ballot title before they can begin to collect signatures.
In Coos County weather and holidays hampered signature gathering but if we collect enough of a buffer, we may still file for the May ballot. If not, we may wait and join Columbia County and possibly Douglas County in November.
The anecdotal evidence we have gleaned from talking to people at libraries and post offices is the closer you are to the North Spit the more people oppose the Jordan Cove project. Those along the pipeline route are quite vociferous in their opposition and Bandon folks are eager to sign.
One young man coming out of the Bayway Market told us he was a longshoreman and he “wants the pipeline.”
“If Jordan Cove comes in ConEX will build a container terminal and even fund a public dock,” he explained. “I went to a meeting about it a month ago.”
A woman I was collecting signatures with lives in the path of the pipeline and shudders when people tell her they favor the pipeline.
“So, you are okay with them taking my land so you can have a temporary job?”, she asked.
“They are paying you for it, aren’t they?” (Not really…)
The other reaction, albeit a rare one, which always makes me wonder is when people tell us they don’t trust the electorate to make good decisions. In other words, in their mind, the rest of us, (not them, of course), are all too stupid to make decisions about our future so they will not facilitate giving the rest of the county a chance to vote. Talk about hubris.
The flip side of this reaction is when people say, “we elect our officials to make these decisions for us.”
More updates as soon as I recover from the flu.
