When you boat down the Columbia River from Vancouver, or drive north on Interstate 5, is the view you want that of a toxic vapor plume as long as Mount Rainier is tall, right on the shores of the idyllic hillside town of Kalama? That’s what NW Innovation Works wants as they plan to build the largest-in-the-world methanol refinery and export terminal on our shores.
This single refinery would use a massive amount of fossil fuel, more fracked gas than all other industries in Washington combined. It would emit over 1 million tons of greenhouse gasses each year, increasing Washington’s greenhouse gas emissions by 1 percent.
This doesn’t even include emissions from supertankers transporting methanol through the Columbia River estuary thousands of miles to China. This is the wrong legacy to leave our children. But we the people can stop it.
Protect our river shorelines. Say no to methanol just as did Tacoma citizens. Attend the shorelines permit hearing in Longview at the Cowlitz County Event Center starting at noon Monday. This hearing is one that really can lead to a pause in the project. Wear red and be heard.