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I wish to thank Senator Wyden and Senator Merkley for introducing the bill to take back power to site LNG facilities from FERC and restore it to the affected States. I also wish to thank Senator Wyden for working to change Federal tax laws to reduce incentives for oil and natural gas speculators.

• No need has been determined for foreign LNG in Oregon. If there is a need for LNG in California, then port facilities and pipelines should be located there. Oregon is not a colony of California.
• Importing LNG, a fossil fuel, from foreign countries would be a step in the wrong direction for achieving energy independence. Most LNG exporters are unfriendly to the U.S., and supplies from them would be unreliable. If we become dependant on LNG, how soon will we need to wage yet another war to assure our supplies?
• If placing LNG import facilities in Oregon is a ruse to create facilities to export Wyoming and Colorado gas, it will raise our gas prices. Do we want to compete with China for our own gas?
• Northwest Natural Gas (NWN) is NOT an environmentally responsible company. Don’t be fooled by their feel-good advertising; they’re trying to cover their misdeeds and mislead. Their partnership in the Palomar pipeline is a prime example of their shenanigans.
• I’m unemployed. I understand the job situation. The union folks think that a pipeline would bring jobs to Oregon. It would. A bunch of guys from Oklahoma would come, camp and move on. That’s actually better than hiring locals; I’d rather have someone with experience welding the bomb next to my house. Destroying a swath of land over a hundred miles long through prime timber and agricultural land for a few jobs isn’t a good trade. Land permanently lost from production would actually cause a net LOSS of jobs!

If the pipeline goes in, my property value will be destroyed. They can’t and certainly wouldn’t pay enough to compensate me. Eminent domain was meant to enable projects that are for the good of the people; not to allow greedy speculators to steal land and resources for personal gain.

posted 3 years, 3 months ago
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