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LNG PIPELINE UPDATE 

Wayne Slawson is the JCDemocrats’ point person monitoring the effort by Williams Pipeline to transport overseas natural gas from Coos Bay through southern Oregon to the California line: Remember, Oregonians do not use a whole lot of natural gas nor want it in their energy future.  Although the state of Oregon opposes projects to build ports in Coos Bay and the mouth of the Columbia for distributing compressed liquid natural gas by pipelines through our state, the contest continues because the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) keeps allowing additional projects to build a supply network. 

Oregon is appealing a December 2009 FERC decision before the 9^th Circuit Court, yet a new pipeline from Wyoming to Malin, Or. was still approved on April 7^th to link this feeder system of pipelines through our state to larger markets in California and beyond. Yet the dirty little secret is that existing LNG dependent gas companies are in a precarious financial state.  

This matters; especially to our neighbors on the Rogue River who have been fighting this pipeline through their property for at least three years, and who do not want to see such projects halted half-way through construction, leaving our public and private lands degraded with no company financially viable enough to ameliorate the damage.  

What shall we do?  First, we can follow the lead of fellow Democrats and write letters to the Mail Tribune over the next few months.  Second, call or write the Oregon Land Board [the Governor, Secretary of State and Treasurer] which has the power to stop the LNG projects by denying leases that are contrary to the public interest:

      Secty of State Kate Brown: oregon.sos@state.or.us  (503)986-1523

      Treasurer Ted Wheeler: oregon.treasurer@state.or.us  (503)378-4329  

Both Governor Kulongoski and gubernatorial candidate Bill Bradbury support stopping these projects. A good way to influence John Kitzhaber is to visit his website and ‘vote’ for the anti-LNG idea:

http://ideasfororegon.uservoice.com/forums/36512-energy-and-transportation