Communities Stand up For Clean Energy on West Coast-wide Day of Action

On Saturday, October 14, West Coast communities from Tijuana, Mexico to Washington State will hold simultaneous demonstrations calling for clean energy. Each of the communities is near one or more proposed import terminals to bring Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) into the West Coast for the first time in history. On October 14, these communities will stand together to reject all LNG imports, and to call for a clean energy future instead.

“Opponents of LNG are often referred to as ‘nimbys,’ or people not wanting development in their backyard,” said Rory Cox, Program Director of Pacific Environment. “That’s a short-sighted assumption. LNG is a West Coast-wide, long-term investment into polluting fossil fuels that would be detrimental to communities here and around the world. There’s a better way, and these people will be out on October 14 to say what it is.”

Among the concerns of the community groups are:

• LNG terminals generate enormous amounts of greenhouse gases. For example, the total emissions from an LNG project proposed near Oxnard, CA will create about 25 million tons of greenhouse gases per year, or about the same as 4.3 million cars (taking into account the full life-cycle emissions of LNG.)
• LNG will displace clean energy efforts by flooding the energy market with fossil fuels, which the region’s utilities will be committed to with contracts of 10 years or more.
• Reliance on LNG will lead to energy instability. The Russian Government just suspended construction of a major LNG export project on Sakhalin Island, while the Indonesian Government just announced it was reducing LNG exports to Japan by 50 percent, because it’s needed in Indonesia. Meanwhile, current North American natural gas suppliers are reporting record storage rates.
• LNG terminals and their affiliated pipelines are highly dangerous, and the projects will emit tons of asthma-causing pollutants into the air.

Events will be held in the following communities:

Longview, Washington: March across the Lewis and Clark Bridge with signs and banners. Picnic and discussion afterwards.11 AM. Participants will assemble on the Oregon side of the bridge.

North Bend (Coos Bay), Oregon: No Gasification without Representation. Rally and Tea Party. Speech by Pacific Green Party candidate for Governor Joe Keating. 10 AM, Simpson Park.

Malibu, California: Drive out LNG. Carpool cavalcade to the rally in Oxnard (see below). Participants will decorate their most fuel efficient cars. 9 AM, Malibu Civic Center Parking Lot.

Oxnard, California: Rally to Protect Our Coast. Speeches and rally. Special children’s area with games and crafts. 11 AM, Plaza Park, 5th and C Street. 

Tijuana, Mexico: Energy in Baja California – Road to Independence or Ruin? Panel discussion. Invited speakers: Maria Ramos, Amazon Watch; Bill Powers Border Power Plant Working Group; Arturo Moreno, Greenpeace; Carla Garcia Zendejas, GTTF. 9 AM to 2 PM, Camara Nacional de Comercio

Further Background: California uses about as much natural gas as all other states west of the Rockies combined, and is widely considered to be the main market driving all of the West Coast LNG projects. According to multiple studies, California can dramatically reduce its consumption of natural gas and other fossil fuels by simply following through on the state’s renewable laws and initiatives. LNG threatens to derail these clean energy plans.

Repeated demands for the state to hold an evidentiary hearing or a needs assessment for LNG have been denied both by the California Public Utilities Commission and by the California Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee.

The Clean Energy Day of Action is being organized by the West Coast-wide coalition Ratepayers for Affordable Clean Energy, or RACE. Sponsoring organizations include Pacific Environment, No LNG Community Alliance (Oxnard), Border Power Plant Working Group, Citizens Against LNG (Coos Bay), Rivervision, Saviers Road Design Team (Oxnard), CAUSE (Coastal Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy), Friends of Living Oregon Waters, Southern Oregon Clean Energy Coalition, Local Power, and Umpqua Watersheds.

Rory Cox
California Program Director
Pacific Environment
311 California Street, Suite 650
San Francisco, CA 94104
Ph: 415.399.8850 x302
Fax: 415.399.8860
www.pacificenvironment.org
www.lngwatch.org

"Protecting the Living Environment of the Pacific Rim."