Friday, February 26, 2021
CapitalPress.com 3
Meteorologist sees dry weather ahead
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Farmers will likely see dry con-
ditions this spring and summer as
La Nina returns, meteorologist Art
Douglas says.
“Any time we get into a
rebounding La Nina situation,
it’s really dangerous for the U.S.
because it favors stronger drought
development,” said Douglas, pro-
fessor emeritus of atmospheric sci-
ences at Creighton University in
Omaha, Neb.
Douglas spoke during the vir-
tual Spokane Ag Show on Feb. 23.
“It never got as cold as what
was being fore-
cast, but the new-
est models show
that La Nina’s
actually going to
strengthen again in
the summer, going
Art Douglas into fall,” Douglas
said. “That’s going
to have a lot of repercussions in
terms of world weather and crop
conditions in the United States.”
La Nina and El Nino are com-
plex weather patterns that result
from variations in the Pacific
Ocean’s surface temperatures.
Douglas predicted gradually
decreasing ocean surface tem-
peratures along the equator in the
spring, summer and fall, and warm
water pools in the northern Pacific
and Atlantic oceans. That will pro-
duce drought and high pressure
ridges across North America, he
said.
He expected La Nina to “dom-
inate” for the next eight to 12
months.
Douglas expected February to
be the coldest month of the winter,
with the cold persisting in March
and gradual warming in April and
May.
He expected occasional cold air
throughout the Pacific Northwest
during the spring, averaging nor-
mal temperatures but dry condi-
tions, especially in western Wash-
ington and Oregon.
“Not a particularly good fore-
cast for wheat in the Pacific North-
west,” Douglas said.
Precipitation will be relatively
scant in March and April, with rain
along the coast in May.
High pressure ridges will keep
much of the U.S. hot and dry
through the summer. The Pacific
Northwest will be slightly cooler
than normal west of the Cascades,
with the rest of the region’s tem-
peratures near to slightly above
normal.
Dryness will extend through the
Rocky Mountains into the Plains
and eastward into the central Corn
Belt.
“So not an encouraging map
for crop production in the United
States,” Douglas said.
He predicted a “super bummer”
of a dry August from Texas to the
Canadian border.
There will be “a lot of chal-
lenges as we go forward in this
upcoming summer,” Douglas said.
The western U.S. will be hot
and dry in September, Douglas
said.
Douglas said he expects 2021 to
most resemble weather patterns in
2000, 2001 and 2020.
Washington farm groups skeptical
about low-carbon fuels bonanza
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
OLYMPIA — Washing-
ton House Democrats are
again moving to adopt a
low-carbon fuel standard,
and farm groups continue
to be among those pushing
back.
The policy requires gaso-
line and diesel to have more
alternative fuels such as eth-
anol and renewable diesel.
Supporters say the mandate
fights climate change and
creates markets for farmers.
Northwest Agricultural
Cooperative Council execu-
tive director Ben Buchholz
said Tuesday that Midwest
corn farmers or Brazilian
sugarcane growers will ben-
efit, while Washington farm-
ers will pay more for fuel.
“Our increased fuel costs
will be sent to the farmers in
those areas,” Buchholz told
the House Transportation
Committee.
California, Oregon and
British Columbia have
low-carbon fuel standards,
intended to cut carbon emis-
sions attributable to on-road
vehicles.
The House has approved
the policy in previous ses-
sions, but not the Senate. For
Senate Democrats, the stan-
dard’s drawback has been
that it may push up pump
prices, but no money flows
to the state.
Renewable fuel makers
and the suppliers of their
raw material would profit.
Bill supporters say embrac-
ing a low-carbon fuel stan-
dard will lead to more alter-
native fuels being produced
in Washington.
Food Northwest lobby-
ist Dan Coyne told the com-
mittee that the state’s record
suggests otherwise.
“While farmers in Iowa,
Brazil or Canada may
receive financial benefits,
Washington farmers are
almost entirely bypassed
because Washington state
cannot get out of its own
way to efficiently permit
new renewable fuel facili-
ties,” he said.
Most recently, Phillips
66 and Renewable Energy
Group canceled plans a year
ago to build in northwest
Washington what they said
would be the largest renew-
able diesel refinery on the
West Coast.
The companies planned
to refine soy oil, used cook-
ing oil, animal fats, canola
oil and inedible corn oil at a
new plant next to the Phillips
oil refinery near Ferndale.
The low-carbon fuel
would be like taking 450,000
passenger cars off the road,
the companies said.
Citing delays in get-
ting permits, the compa-
nies dropped the project five
days after the Department
of Ecology and Whatcom
County announced the refin-
ery would likely have signif-
icant adverse environmental
consequences.
Ecology said the proj-
ect would be subjected to a
lengthy study. The depart-
ment said it was concerned
about ship traffic, wet-
lands and greenhouse gas
emissions.
Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon,
D-Burien, who has repeat-
edly introduced the low-car-
bon fuel standard, said he
agreed that “it is too difficult
to site clean energy facilities
in Washington state now.”
Fitzgibbon, chairman of
the House Environment and
Energy Committee, said law-
makers should streamline
permits and pass the low-car-
bon fuel standard, contained
this year in House Bill 1091.
“Climate change is not
waiting for us,” he said. “We
need to move more quickly
than we have.”
HB 1091 exempts from
the low-carbon standard fuel
used on farms, as well as in
aircraft, vessels, trains and
equipment to move logs in
the woods.
Farm groups say it would
increase the cost of mov-
ing products and equipment
on highways. Dozens of log
truck drivers came to Olym-
pia last year to testify against
the bill. This year, the Capitol
Campus is closed because of
the pandemic.
On-road consumption of
gasoline and diesel accounts
for about 30% of the state’s
greenhouse gas emissions,
according to Ecology.
The bill would require the
“carbon intensity” of trans-
portation fuels to be 10% less
by 2028 and 20% by 2036.
To determine a fuel’s car-
bon intensity, Ecology would
assess the volume of green-
house gases emitted as the
fuel was produced, trans-
ported and used.
The policy’s long-term
effect on greenhouse gas
emissions and pump prices is
speculative.
The U.S. Department of
Energy in October reported
that renewable diesel in Cal-
ifornia cost $3.06 a gallon,
compared to $3.30 a gallon
for diesel.
Washington lawmakers
also are considering raising
the gas tax and implementing
new carbon taxes.
Sierra Dawn McClain/Capital Press
An Oregon farmer is seeking $2 million for alleged herbicide drift that damaged
his blueberry bushes.
Oregon berry farmer seeks
$2 million for herbicide drift
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
An Oregon blueberry
grower is seeking $2 mil-
lion in damages from
alleged herbicide drift
from a neighboring prop-
erty owned by a major Cal-
ifornia-based agriculture
company.
William Vandehey of
Cornelius, Ore., has filed
a lawsuit claiming that an
employee of Munger Bros.
of Delano, Calif., sprayed
glyphosate on an adja-
cent field during sustained
winds of up to 20 mph in
May 2020.
Drift from the spray
operation caused “severe
and long lasting damage”
to Vandehey’s blueberry
bushes, which lost at least
half their crop during last
year’s growing season, the
complaint said.
Vandehey alleges that a
representative of Munger
Bros. admitted to using gly-
phosate to an investigator
from the Oregon Depart-
ment of Agriculture but
“misrepresented and falsi-
fied” the spray operation’s
“extent and duration” to
cover up the damage.
Apart from the direct
crop losses suffered last
year, the herbicide damage
is expected to reduce Van-
dehey’s blueberry yields
for 3 to 6 years, the com-
plaint said.
The complaint accuses
Munger Bros. of trespass
and negligence that caused
nearly $1 million in lost
profits, income and other
financial damages.
To make up for
decreased revenues, Vande-
hey may have to sell prop-
erty and farm equipment,
according to the lawsuit.
“In the event that plaintiff
is unable to secure financ-
ing to continue caring for
and farming the damaged
blueberry bushes, plaintiff
reserves the right to replead
its damages for a total loss
of the family farm.”
Vandehey is also seek-
ing $1 million in punitive
damages because Munger
Bros. acted with “mal-
ice and a reckless and
outrageous indifference”
by allegedly misting his
elderly parents with the
herbicide and trying to
cover up the incident.
Capital Press was
unable to reach a represen-
tative of Munger Bros. for
comment on the lawsuit.
The company is a fruit pro-
cessor and packer in addi-
tion to growing crops on
more than 3,000 acres in the
U.S., Canada and Mexico.
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