Building on momentum from the successful defeat of the proposed Bradwood LNG terminal earlier this month, yesterday climate and clean energy activists turned up the pressure on a company that’s continued to push for twentieth-century solutions to the Northwest’s twenty-first-century energy problems: Northwest Natural Gas. In case you haven’t heard, NW Natural – a company that greenwashes itself as an environmentally aware corporate citizen – is backing the proposed Palomar LNG Pipeline in Oregon. If built, Palomar threatens to lock the western US into years of dependence on the high-carbon, imported fossil fuel liquefied natural gas.
Yesterday close to 300 Oregonians of all ages turned out to NW Natural’s shareholder’s meeting at the Oregon Convention Center to demand the company pull out of Palomar. Yesterday I posted about the highly successful rally on the progressive blog BlueOregon.
Originally, the Palomar Pipeline was supposed to connect to the Bradwood LNG terminal on the Columbia River. Climate activists and community organizers defeated Bradwood earlier this month, but NW Natural is still trying to push Palomar forward by connecting it to other LNG projects. We showed up Thursday to let the company know Palomar is a bad deal for Oregonians; not only is it a threat to the climate and Oregon’s natural landscape, it’s a bad investment as well. NW Natural’s shareholders already lost money when Bradwood LNG went down, turning the company’s investment in that project sour. Every day NW Natural stays committed to Palomar, the company is chalking up debts that have to be paid – either by shareholders or ratepayers.
While hundreds rallied outside the Convention Center, a few brave souls with passes to the inside of the meeting ventured in to ask NW Natural questions in person. Rather than value the input of affected individuals as a truly good corporate citizen should, NW Natural officials refused to address the concerns of activists, and had people forcibly removed from the room. I have to believe most shareholders couldn’t have been impressed by the company’s tactics – no more than they could ignore the hundreds of chanting people outside the building walls.
Grassroots organizers in the Pacific Northwest already have defeated one piece of LNG infrastructure, which should send a warning to all companies investing in high-carbon projects. It’s time for NW Natural to get the message, and pull out of Palomar LNG.
For more about yesterday’s rally, please see my post on BlueOregon.
1 Response to “Liquefied Natural Gas Confronted at NW Natural’s Shareholder’s Meeting”