Editor’s note: The report below is an updated version of the original report published in March 2017. Since this report was first published, four BC liquefied natural gas projects have been cancelled. Sixteen LNG proposals are still standing—but most of them are standing still. Over the past few years, Oregon and Washington fended off several … Read more
Already besieged by explosive oil trains and polluting coal trains, rail-line communities in the Pacific Northwest may soon face a new vexation: mile-long trains hauling liquefied natural gas (LNG). It’s thanks to a little-known experiment taking place in Alaska, under test conditions that bear little resemblance to realities in Cascadia. The first LNG-by-rail shipment For … Read more
Sightline senior research associate Tarika Powell joined Tom Layson on KBTC‘s Emmy-winning Northwest Now program last week, along with RedLine Tacoma co-founder Claudia Riedener and South Sound resident Bill Kupinse. Together, they take a critical look at the $300 million liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility that is proposed for the Tacoma tide flats and answer frequently asked questions: Why … Read more
The little Columbia River town of Kalama, Washington, may soon be home to the world’s largest methanol refinery. If approved by state regulators, the facility would pipe in huge quantities of natural gas to produce the petrochemical methanol for export to China, where it would be used in plastics manufacturing. A companion project in Tacoma … Read more
The Pacific Northwest is in the bullseye of the international coal, oil, and gas economy. In the last five years, an unprecedented amount of dirty energy projects have been proposed in the region. Luckily, the Northwest’s geography acts as a Thin Green Line, a barrier to hold back these carbon-intense fuels from being exported to Asian energy markets. We have seen … Read more
By any measure, the petrochemical refinery slated for construction on the banks of the Columbia River in southwest Washington is a giant. Designed to convert large quantities of natural gas into methanol, the facility would ship tankers full of the product to China to be used for making plastics. Although the facility proposed for Kalama … Read more
Join Sightline Institute policy director Eric de Place and Columbia Riverkeeper for a thought-provoking forum on the proposed methanol refinery in Kalama, Washington. Eric will share Sightline research and debunk myths on this proposal to build the world’s largest natural gas-to-methanol refinery on the Columbia River. Columbia Riverkeeper will host two forums with Eric in Longview and … Read more
The backers of several proposed petrochemical refineries in the Northwest are pitching their projects as environmentally responsible investments that would reduce global warming pollution. Billed as a cleaner means of creating methanol, the proponents allege that they will enable Chinese manufacturers to produce olefins, a precursor to plastics manufacturing, with much less pollution than current … Read more
Consulting firm EnviroIssues is a longstanding fixture of the Northwest’s sustainability community. Known mostly for its work with local governments, the company is generally well respected and considered “a white hat” in a field liberally populated with unscrupulous characters. Of themselves, EnviroIssues says: “Our names says it all—we help make the natural and built communities … Read more
The next big fossil fuel fight in Cascadia may center on a proposed complex of LNG export plants and gas pipelines in northern Washington and southern British Columbia that almost no one is talking about. The plans could run afoul of tribal treaty rights, put the Salish Sea at risk of pipeline leaks, and turn … Read more
