{"id":10504,"date":"2021-01-19T21:53:46","date_gmt":"2021-01-19T21:53:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=152066"},"modified":"2021-01-19T21:53:46","modified_gmt":"2021-01-19T21:53:46","slug":"washington-rejects-massive-methanol-refinery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/01\/19\/washington-rejects-massive-methanol-refinery\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington Rejects Massive Methanol Refinery"},"content":{"rendered":"
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WASHINGTON – The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) denied<\/a>permits for the massive fracked gas-to-methanol refinery proposed in Kalama, WA. Ecology nixed the fossil fuel processing and export proposal after deciding it would have a significant negative impact on the climate, Washington\u2019s shorelines, and the public interest.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout the necessary state and federal permits, this climate-wrecking proposal is going nowhere,\u201d said Brett VandenHeuvel, Executive Director with Columbia Riverkeeper. \u201cEcology\u2019s decision is cause for celebration for people across the Northwest who value bold leadership to tackle the climate crisis. We applaud Governor Inslee and Director Wastson\u2019s decision to follow the science and the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOver six years, in thousands of written comments and hours of public testimony, people in Kalama and across the Northwest urged Governor Inslee and Ecology to protect our climate and our community from this destructive, polluting refinery,\u201d said Sally Keely, a math professor and a resident of Kalama. \u201cI\u2019m thrilled they respected our voices.” <\/p>\n

“Governor Inslee and Ecology did the right thing; in the middle of a climate emergency, building the world’s largest fracked gas-to-methanol refinery makes no sense,” said Stephanie Hillman, Northwest Campaign Representative for Sierra Club and Co-Director of the Power Past Fracked Gas Coalition.<\/p>\n

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\u201cPeople across that state have consistently said they do not support a clean energy future that simply invests in dirty fossil fuel infrastructure,\u201d said Alyssa Macy, CEO of Washington Environmental Council and Washington Conservation Voters. \u201cToday\u2019s science-based decision helps ensure Washington\u2019s promise of a livable planet for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis decision helps ensure we\u2019ll never see a massive fracked-gas refinery that would pose a catastrophic risk to the fragile Columbia River ecosystem that people and imperiled species depend on to survive,\u201d said Jared Margolis, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. \u201cWe can\u2019t keep pretending these dirty fossil fuel projects don\u2019t jeopardize our continued existence by accelerating the climate crisis and destroying essential habitat. Thankfully, Washington has stepped up and rejected this monstrosity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ecology\u2019s disapproval of the Shoreline Management Act permits means that Northwest Innovation Works and the Port of Kalama may not construct the methanol refinery, the export dock, or any related infrastructure.<\/p>\n

“Today’s decision keeps fossil fuels in the ground where they belong,” said Kristen Boyles, Earthjustice Staff Attorney. “Governor Inslee and Ecology put people over polluters by stating once and for all that a clean energy future cannot be built on the back of dirty energy infrastructure.”<\/p>\n\n

This post was originally published on Radio Free<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2013 The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) deniedpermits for the massive fracked gas-to-methanol refinery proposed in Kalama, WA. Ecology nixed the fossil fuel processing and export proposal\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10504"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10504"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10504\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10505,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10504\/revisions\/10505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}