The Thin Green Line
The Pacific Northwest stands squarely between the most voracious energy markets in the world and huge fossil fuel deposits in the interior of North America—Powder River Basin coal, Bakken shale oil, Alberta tar sands, and remote natural gas fields. Big energy companies plan to unearth these vast reserves of carbon-intense fuels and put them up for sale in Asia.
If they are successful, these energy firms will unleash the carbon equivalent of roughly five Keystone XL Pipelines. But to get their products to market, energy companies first have to build new terminals and pipelines to move all that fuel. They need destinations for the scores of oil and coal trains that they plan to run across the Northwest, and they need right-of-ways to lay new pipelines.
In short, they need our permission.
So it is by geographic accident that the Northwest, perhaps the greenest corner of North America, will play an outsize role in determining the planet’s climate future. Will we double-down on coal and oil use, thereby jeopardizing our chance at a stable climate? Or will we act as a thin green line, insisting that we must do better—that our economy and our children demand a cleaner future?
Check out our interactive Thin Green Line map here
Series in Fossil Fuel Transition
-
The Northwest's Pipeline on Rails
A comprehensive look at the nearly one dozen plans that have emerged since 2012 to ship crude oil by train to Northwest refineries and port terminals. -
Coal Exports: Caveat Investor
Why the Northwest coal export proposals are proving an increasingly shaky investment for their backers. -
Fracked Fuel & Petrochemical Projects in the Pacific Northwest
Methanol, LNG, propane-by-rail, and xylene schemes—cousins to coal and oil export projects—get a close review of their costs and risks to the Northwest’s water and air. -
Northwest Coal & Oil Exports
The facts on coal exports, oil trains, and the real costs of these schemes for our region and climate. -
Look Who's Taking Oil & Coal Money
Outing purported "green" professionals for their contradictory work pushing Northwest coal and oil exports. -
The Risk of Northwest Oil Spills
What an oil spill from the region's ballooning oil shipping industry would mean for Northwest waterways.
Recent Reports & Graphics
-
The Dirt on Tesoro
Tesoro is a bad neighbor to Northwest communities.