March 15, 2018. On January 29 of this year, fossil fuel opponents and environmental activists throughout the Pacific Northwest celebrated Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s decision to reject Vancouver Energy’s proposal to build the nation’s largest crude-by-rail oil terminal at the Port of Vancouver.
The governor’s decision represented the culmination of a dispute spanning nearly five years. The clash pitted Big Oil against local residents and environmental advocacy groups, who were concerned about the impacts of transporting 360,000 barrels of oil through the Columbia River Gorge daily. In the end, Gov. Inslee sided with the state’s Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, which unanimously opposed the proposal to build a $210 million oil terminal.
Reacting to this monumental decision, the editorial staff at the Columbian published a story about how “the saga has provided a defining moment for Clark County.”
“Stamping Vancouver as an oil town would damage our potential as an environmentally conscious region ready to embrace the economy of the future,” the staff writes.
Read the full story here…
