For Immediate Release: June 9, 2016
Contact: Eric de Place, eric@sightline.org, 206-447-1880 x105
SEATTLE, WA—A prominent Seattle-based public affairs firm with a green reputation has in fact worked to advance some of the Pacific Northwest’s most controversial oil and gas projects, according to newly published research from Sightline Institute.
EnviroIssues has worked to shepherd through environmental review several major crude oil and petrochemical proposals, including Tesoro’s oil-by-rail terminal in Vancouver, Washington, on the Columbia River; US Development’s oil-by-rail proposal for Grays Harbor; and large methanol refineries, including the now-defunct proposal in Tacoma for what would have been the world’s largest.
Sightline also found at least one instance of potential conflict of interest in EnviroIssues’ work. Even while the firm is working on behalf of oil company Tesoro in Vancouver, EnviroIssues is also responsible for managing Skagit County’s public review process for Tesoro’s proposal to build a petrochemical facility in Anacortes. The firm’s unusual degree of access and apparently conflicting allegiances has also raised questions in Tacoma and elsewhere.
EnviroIssues’ public client list on its website includes scores of Northwest local governments, permitting agencies, and environmental groups, demonstrating deep connections with key decision makers. Yet the firm omits its partnerships with the oil and petrochemical projects that might call into question its green credentials.
“EnviroIssues’ work directly affects countless communities in the Pacific Northwest,” said Eric de Place, policy director of Sightline Institute. “The public deserves to know whether EnviroIssues is an honest broker of these projects—especially when the communities are on the hook for their hefty economic and ecological costs.”
See the full article at www.sightline.org/EnviroIssues.
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Sightline Institute is an independent think tank providing leading original analysis of energy, economic, and environmental policy in the Pacific Northwest.
