Biking to End Fossil Fuel Dependence!

Liquefied Natural Gas is turning into a truly big issue at Pacific University - and I can tell you, it's not getting a lot of good press. Since the Washington County Sustainability Summit in February, Pacific students have attended a no-LNG rally outside the Portland headquarters of Northwest Natural Gas, written letters-to-the-editor of local papers, and even traveled to Salem to speak with our representatives in the state legislature and let them know what we think of LNG. Pacific also hosted a Columbia Riverkeeper film screening of "Crossroads on the Columbia," which chronicles the struggles of landowners whose livelihoods would be devastated by LNG development. But this past weekend we took the fight against dirty LNG in Washington County to new level with a project that brought together Pacific students, young climate activists from other parts of the state, and local affected landowners. It was an initiative that's been in the works since soon after the Sustainability Summit: Bike-the-Pipe.

On Saturday, approximately 20 young climate activists, more than half of them students at Pacific, toured the proposed route of the Palomar and Oregon LNG pipelines in Washington County by bicycle. Our first stop along the way was at the beautiful Gales Meadow Farm - an all-organic home business owned by Anne and Rene' Berblinger, which is severely threatened by the Palomar LNG pipeline. "LNG would wipe us out," said Anne Berblinger, back at the Sustainability Summit two months ago.

Next, we stopped along the banks of Gales Creek: a salmon-supporting stream which stands to be criss-crossed several by the LNG pipelines. A local activist of unknown identity had drawn out a series of red and white lines across the nearby road, marking where the Palomar and Oregon LNG lines would plow their way through the landscape: both pointed directly at the stream. Oregon's endangered salmon are just one of the rare species in the Northwest which will suffer if the LNG proposals go through.

Luckily, however, local resistance to this massive fossil fuel development project is so strong that the salmon and other threatened species may not have to worry. For our last stop of the bike tour we rested up at the Gales Creek Elementary School, for a potluck and media event attended by local farmers, tree growers, and clean energy advocates who are determined not to see LNG rip through the Washington County countryside. The event was also attended by Representative Chuck Riley, who represents Forest Grove in the Oregon Legislature. Rep Riley is the co-sponsor of the LNG Public Protection Act - a bill that would limit energy giants' ability to develop LNG projects without a proven need for the fuel in Oregon. Reporters from the Hillsboro Argus and the Forest Grove News-Times were present, taking notes as students and landowners alike testified to the dangers of LNG for our community and local economy.

Facing the massive challenges of global warming, fossil fuel dependence, and a collapsing national economy, it's easy to grow despondent, even to give up on doing anything at all. But this weekend 20 dedicated students decorated their bicycles with no-LNG banners and set out to do something about one small part of the problem. Instead of despairing that nothing can be done, we got out there and did something. The energy giants that want to sacrifice our land, air, and water had better watch out, because the Washington County sustainability movement is not going to back down until they do.

Press Release from the Washington County Sustainability Summit

Urgent Calls for Action Delivered at Sustainability Summit

FOREST GROVE – During the Washington County Sustainability Summit at Pacific University, a tangible feeling of urgency permeated the words of speakers who ranged from community organizers to locally elected officials. They touched on issues as diverse as peak oil, permaculture and sustainable food, Liquefied Natural Gas development, and nonviolent civil disobedience as employed by the climate movement. The Summit, organized by a group of Pacific students with support from faculty members Deke Gundersen and Terry O’Day, took place over the weekend of February 7th to 8th and was designed to bring together some of the most significant environmental movements in the County.

Saturday’s keynote speaker, Peter Lunsford of Washington County Peak Oil, urged County residents to prepare for a future in which energy will be more expensive and availability of liquid fuels will decline sharply. Lunsford called on local government officials to do much more to curtail energy use, pointing to a German city that now requires all new buildings to be energy neutral as an example of the kinds of steps our localities should be taking. “Now that’s what I call serious curtailment,” Lunsford said, referring to the city in Germany.

A panel of local government representatives from Metro, Washington County, and the cities of Beaverton, Hillsboro, and Forest Grove were quick to agree that they have a long way to go to satisfactorily address our energy problems. “But each of us is only one person on a board,” said Metro Councilor Kathryn Harrington, hinting that for every local official committed to sustainability, there are multiple others for whom peak oil and global warming still do not signify as priorities. On the issue of the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) fossil fuel project, County Commissioner Dick Schouten said, “I am probably one of two members” of the five-person Board who would stand up for the environment by opposing LNG development. Beaverton City Councilor Cathy Stanton, Hillsboro Sustainability Manager Peter Brandom, and Forest Grove Mayor Richard Kidd each spoke about energy-saving projects going forward in their cities, while acknowledging that much remains to be done.

Other speakers at the Summit focused on citizen activism as a way to jumpstart the government. Olivia Schmidt of Columbia Riverkeeper highlighted the coalition of environmentalists and landowners that has come together to defeat LNG in Washington County and across the state by pressuring government officials. Chuck Riley, who represents the County’s District 29 in the Oregon House of Representatives urged citizens to contact state officials who are still undecided on the LNG issue, as a means of turning the tide against this project.

Meanwhile a delegation from the climate activist group Cascadia Rising Tide pointed out how such tactics as street theater and nonviolent civil disobedience are being used call out companies like Northwest Natural Gas which are bottom-lining the LNG project. Rising Tide’s website states that “We believe climate change can only be addressed by exposing the intersections between oppressions of humans and the earth,” and this connection was apparent in the discussion of LNG. Washington County farms like the all-organic Gales Meadow Farm owned by Anne and Rene’ Berblinger are threatened by massive LNG pipelines that would render much of their land unusable. The Palomar LNG Pipeline “would wipe us out,” said Anne Berblinger at the Summit. Berblinger’s keynote speech on Sunday highlighted the role of organic, localized agriculture plays in reducing global warming emissions and preparing our community for energy instability.

Though Washington County’s plentiful farmland and the burgeoning clean energy economy in Oregon means our area is well-positioned to take on the challenges discussed at the Sustainability Summit, our community’s struggles were seen by many speakers as a microcosm of the nation as a whole. Peter Lunsford praised President Obama’s efforts to make the new clean energy economy a priority of his Administration.

However, Lunsford pointed out, it will take thousands of ordinary citizens changing their own lives and becoming politically active if Obama’s plan is to succeed. “We are allowing President Obama to fight, unsupported, against half the government to do what we should be doing ourselves,” Lunsford said. As one speaker after another confirmed as the Sustainability Summit, solutions to our most pressing problems will come ultimately from ordinary citizens in places like Washington County.