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<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:rcox@pacificenvironment.org">rcox@pacificenvironment.org</a>
wrote:<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">As many of
you know, I spend most of my
time campaigning to keep Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) out of <st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State>,
and as some of you may know, I spent last week in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Oregon</st1:place></st1:State> helping to organize a rally
at the
state capital and have some meetings with decision-makers on this.
Well, it appears
as if our efforts have paid off in a huge way, as the Governor of
Oregon is
finally doing the things we’ve been asking him to do. This has huge
implications for the Bay Area’s energy future, as any LNG terminal
located in <st1:State w:st="on">Oregon</st1:State> would largely serve
the <st1:place w:st="on">Northern California</st1:place> energy
market. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">This is an
amazing victory for all of us
(though we still have some work to do to ensure LNG stays out of <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oregon</st1:place></st1:State>. But
this is a
giant step). <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;">The story
below is from the front page of
today’s Oregonian.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy;"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><font
face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"><a
href="http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/business/12030495269790.xml&coll=7">http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/business/12030495269790.xml&coll=7</a></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><img
id="_x0000_i1025" src="cid:part1.05000307.01080805@aim.com"
style="margin-bottom: 20px;" border="0" height="34" width="179"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<h1><b><font face="Times New Roman" size="6"><span
style="font-size: 24pt;">Governor ups ante against LNG sites <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold;">Energy - A letter tells
federal regulators to back off and calls into question the quality of
their reviews </span></font></b><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;">Friday, February 15, 2008 <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;">TED SICKINGER <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold;">The Oregonian</span></font></b>
<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;">Gov. Ted Kulongoski insisted Thursday that
federal regulators halt all reviews of proposals to build
liquefied-natural-gas terminals in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">Oregon</st1:State></st1:place> until they study all
alternatives for supplying natural gas to the region. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;">In a letter sent Thursday to Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission Chairman Joseph Kelliher, Kulongoski said he had
asked the state attorney general to examine <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">Oregon</st1:State></st1:place>'s legal authority to refuse
state permits for the projects until FERC complies with his request. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;">Kulongoski also told Kelliher he had asked <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">Oregon</st1:State></st1:place>'s
congressional delegation to enact legislation that would wrest back
state control for licensing LNG facilities. State authority was
preempted by the federal government as part of the Energy Policy Act of
2005. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;">The governor's new posture, outlined Thursday
in an interview with The Oregonian, marks a bold departure from his
wait-and-see, open-minded approach that has accompanied debate and
review of the gas-importing terminals for years. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;">From the outset, the LNG proposals have
stirred controversy. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;">Some in rural communities welcome the jobs
and taxes they would generate. Other residents scorn the potential
damage to the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Columbia</st1:City></st1:place>
estuary and decry the likely use of eminent domain to seize farmland,
vineyards and forest for hundreds of miles of pipeline. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;">Kulongoski told Kelliher he wasn't
"unalterably opposed" to LNG being part of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">Oregon</st1:State></st1:place>'s energy mix. But he said
FERC's "approach to the licensing of plants and pipelines has created a
crisis of confidence with Oregonians." <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;">Opponents of the projects cheered
Kulongoski's moves. They have been appalled by FERC's style of
regulating the terminals -- an extension, they say, of a laissez-faire
approach of the Bush administration. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;">"This is just the type of leadership we want
to see the governor take on this issue," said Brent Foster, executive
director of Columbia Riverkeeper. "It's encouraging that he's
recognizing that these LNG projects deserve a very close look, and it's
important that the rush to approve these projects not leave us with a
mistake." <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;">The governor's new stance puts Oregon in
league with states across the country that have raised objections to
FERC's permitting approach and its preemption of state licensing
authority. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;">"Ultimately, we may end up in court over
this," Kulongoski said in the Thursday interview. "We're not exactly
clawless. . . . The state doesn't have all the tools, but we are a
critical piece. You're going to have to meet the state concerns." <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;">Energy companies have proposed building three
LNG terminals in the state: one in <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Coos</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Bay</st1:PlaceType> and two on the <st1:place
w:st="on">Columbia River</st1:place>. The terminals would accept
imports of supercooled natural gas from abroad, reheat the liquid into
a gas, and ship the gas to West Coast markets through one of four
proposed pipelines. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;">Two other companies have proposed building
pipelines to ship domestic natural gas from the Wyoming Rockies to
southern <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">Oregon</st1:State></st1:place>.
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;">Project proponents say <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">Oregon</st1:State></st1:place> needs to diversify its
natural-gas supply to offset potential price spikes as regional demand
rises and, as they contend will happen, Canadian imports or domestic
supplies go into decline. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;">The Northwest Gas Association projects that
natural gas demand will grow 2 percent annually during the next five
years, driven primarily by higher need for electricity generation and
growing residential use. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;">"The Northwest's need for additional natural
gas is well documented," said William "Si" Garrett, chief executive of
NorthernStar Natural Gas Inc., in an e-mail statement. NorthernStar
wants to build the Bradwood Landing terminal 20 miles upriver from <st1:City
w:st="on">Astoria</st1:City> on the <st1:place w:st="on">Columbia
River</st1:place>. Bradwood is expecting a decision from FERC -- its
first on any of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">Oregon</st1:State></st1:place>
proposals -- in the spring or early summer. The company says nine
studies in the past two years have shown a need to boost the region's
gas supply. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;">Industrial gas users and the gas industry's
regional trade group said Thursday that the federal government does not
need to analyze the region's gas needs and how best to meet them. No
company would build a facility that wasn't needed and fully subscribed,
they contend. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;">"I'm not sure the government is as
well-equipped as the market to determine which facility is most
efficient and cost-effective at meeting the region's needs," said Dan
Kirschner, executive director of the Northwest Gas Association. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;">Kulongoski, however, said the regional need
for gas, and which facility would best meet that need, are "threshold
questions." <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;">Each of the proposed LNG and Rockies
pipelines could import far more gas than <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">Oregon</st1:State></st1:place> uses. Opponents long have
contended that project backers want to use <st1:State w:st="on">Oregon</st1:State>
as a back door to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place>,
which already has spurned several efforts to locate LNG terminals
there. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on"><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Oregon</span></font></st1:State></st1:place>
state agencies, meanwhile, have complained that FERC's environmental
review of Bradwood was inadequate and that it had abdicated its
responsibility to thoroughly evaluate alternatives. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;">Some of Kulongoski's Democratic colleagues,
including Secretary of State Bill Bradbury and Oregon House Speaker
Jeff Merkley, have opposed the terminals. Bradbury, in particular, is
wary of seeing the state tie its energy future to an imported fossil
fuel with higher greenhouse emissions than domestic natural gas. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;">In his letter, Kulongoski asked that FERC's
review of alternatives include a full analysis of carbon emissions
along LNG's path from source to market, including liquefication
overseas, trans-ocean shipping and re-gasification here. The analysis,
he said, should be compared with the harms of extracting more gas
domestically. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;">"No review of any of the three individual LNG
projects should proceed further until this carbon study is completed by
FERC," Kulongoski wrote. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;">Ted Sickinger: 503-221-8505 tedsickinger@
news.oregonian.com <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;"><br clear="all">
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">©2008 The
Oregonian<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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