News
Page 8
Street Roots • March 31-April 6, 2017
economic hardship that would result if a
landslide wiped out the Portland Airport’s
storage container of jet fuel near Highway
30. Under the fossil fuel ban, Myers warned,
a new storage facility would be difficult to
build, and “a billion dollars in revenue”
could potentially be lost from the delay.
In fact, the Bureau of Planning and
Sustainability’s code changes from
repeatedly state that jet fuel
M unicipal resistance is rising across the country as local communities go head December
storage for the Portland Airport is not
subject to the ban. The new rules also allow
to head with the fossil fuel industry to preserve their environmental interests
for the construction of new bulk fossil fuel
storage facilties whose capacity is under 2
BY STEPHEN QUIRKE
and before permitting the terminal,
million gallons, and provide for 10 percent
S T A F F W R IT E R
Washington state will have to consider the
growth in existing storage facilities when
fact
that
the
project
is
no
longer
consistent
wo winters ago, the city of Portland
seismic upgrades occur.
with
city
zoning
laws.
Potter
said
there
have
made history.
Myers said the CPBTC supports the
been no legal complaints against the city’s
transition away from
new policy, and believes it stands on solid
After years of work on climate
fossil fuels, but did
ground if challenges arise. “I’m confident
resilience and efforts to lower the city’s
not provide comment
that our ban on crude oil storage and
carbon footprint, city officials took stock of
on how a transition
handling facilities is enforceable,” Potter
the regional situation with the fossil fuel
could happen, saying "1 th io l I f s pretty well estab
said.
industry and unanimously passed a
simply “I represent
lished th at cities throngh their
“I think it’s pretty well established that
resolution to block the expansion of fossil
folks in the
ro alo g authority^ i© h a w the
cities through their zoning authority, do
fuel infrastructure - both within the city of
construction
have the authority to allow or prohibit
Portland and in adjacent waters. The policy
authority to allow or prohibit
industry.”
various types of uses,” he said. “Can you
went into effect after another unanimous
warloBS types oS uses»"
The Portland
single out certain types of commodities and
vote this past December, which finalized
Business Alliance
- E. BRONSO N POTTER
say you’re not going to allow those within
changes to city building codes.
V
A
N
C
O
U V E R C IT Y A T T O R N E Y
declined to be
your
jurisdiction?
I
think
if
you’re
treating
The effort has been hailed by climate
interviewed for this
in-state and out-of-state handlers of those
activists across the country, and sets a new
article.
commodities equally you can.”
precedent for how cities can lead against
Across the U.S.
A few days before Vancouver’s action, the
climate change. The policy also had the
examples abound of
city of Aberdeen, Wash., voted to ban the
personal support of 350.org’s Bill
regulated industries attempting to sue local
storage and handling of crude oil within the
McKibben, who helped popularize the
governments to prevent laws that affect
city. And on March 21, Whatcom County,
scientific consensus 5 years ago that 80
their bottom-line. In the case of the fossil
n e a r th e C anadian b o rd er, re n e w e d a
percent of existing fossil fuel reserves need
fuel industry, the need, to experiment with
6-month moratorium on unrefined fossil
to stay in the ground to prevent irreversible
local laws has become increasingly urgent.
fuels through Cherry Point as plans develop
climate change. In October, McKibben
In the summer of 2015 hot water in the
to re-route the controversial Kinder Morgan
joined former mayor Charlie Hales in an
Columbia River killed half the sockeye
pipeline around the city of Burnaby in
Oregonian opinion, writing “Portland is
salmon run. In February a new study from
British Columbia and through Cherry Point,
once again out in front, positioned to do
the journal Geology found that 52,000
Wash.
what climate-change experts say is
square miles of permafrost is disintegrating
necessary to hold off catastrophic climate
in Northwest Canada. Such permafrost is
disruption.”
currently sequestering massive quantities of
By adopting the policy, Portland became
methane, which has a global warming
ack in Portland, the fossil fuel appeal is
the first city in the country to pursue direct
potential 86 times that of carbon dioxide
being pushed by three groups: the
municipal action against the fossil fuel
over a 20 year period. If such melting
Portland Business Alliance, the Columbia
industry. But as of January that policy is
continues unabated, warming cycles around
Pacific Building Trades Council (CPBTC),
being challenged at the Land Use Board of
the globe could become unstoppable.
and the leader, the Western States
Appeals (LUBA), where the fossil fuel
Taking account of such risks on a global
Petroleum Association.
industry hopes to declare the policy illegal.
and local scale, local governments in the
Their specific legal objection is not yet
This past July, Vancouver, Wash., took a
Northwest have increasingly taken direct
clear, as the coalition’s legal briefs will not
piece of Portland’s policy and banned the
legal action against the fossil fuel industry.
be submitted until April 11.
storage and handling of crude oil using city
This May voters in Coos County voters
Willy Myers of the CPBTC, the
zoning law. Vancouver City Attorney E.
will consider Measure 6-162, which would
spokesperson for the groups suing the city,
Bronson Potter explains that the policy will
make fossil fuel exports in Coos County
said the ban violates state land-use law by
not directly affect the massive Tesoro-
illegal - and provide a referendum on
preventing fossil fuel development within
Savage oil terminal, as state law in
exporting liquefied natural gas via Jordan
the city of Portland.
Washington pre-empts local law on projects
Cove LNG and the Pacific Connector
More specifically, Myers warned of the
of such size. But the law will prevent the
company from building an adjacent refinery,
cities
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