Gabby Brown, gabby.brown@sierraclub.org, 914-261-4626
Caleb Heeringa, caleb.heeringa@sierraclub.org, 425-890-9744
Bellevue, WA -- On Wednesday, May 22, members of the public plan to rally and pack the room at a “listening session” held by Puget Sound Energy (PSE) in opposition to the utility’s proposed 8 million gallon liquefied fracked gas storage facility in the Port of Tacoma.
PSE is currently constructing the facility despite the fact that it has not yet received the necessary permits to build. If completed, the facility would dramatically increase greenhouse gas emissions in Washington State, as well as threatening the health and safety of the Puyallup people, whose reservation is directly adjacent to the site of the proposed 8 million-gallon gas plant and whose Medicine Creek Treaty rights would be violated by the project.
Governor Jay Inslee recently announced his opposition to the fracked gas project, citing its contribution to the climate crisis. A growing body of evidence shows that the oil and gas industry has been underestimating the leakage of methane, a greenhouse gas 87 times more potent than carbon dioxide, during the fracking process and transport of gas.
Environmental reviews of the project have already drawn criticism from Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s office over the company’s assertion that the project would only receive gas from a specific area of British Columbia that reports lower than average rates of gas leakage. Several studies have indicated that methane leaks in British Columbia are at least two and a half times higher than official estimates.
Wednesday’s listening session is part of PSE’s process for producing a long-range energy plan, which was put on hold earlier this year while the state legislature passed a bill moving the state to move to 100% clean electricity by 2045 and cutting off coal power by 2025. As the state’s largest utility, activists will ask PSE to commit to complying with the law by:
- Limiting investment of its customers’ money into the Colstrip coal plant in Eastern Montana, which is one of the single largest sources of climate pollution in the American West and still provides approximately 20 percent of the utility’s electricity.
- Commit to not build new fracked gas infrastructure, including the Tacoma LNG project. The utility recently solicited bids for new sources of electricity and is considering at least two fracked gas contracts in addition to dozens of solar, wind and battery storage projects.
WHAT: Protest of Tacoma Fracked Gas Facility at PSE Listening Session
WHEN: Wednesday, May 22, rally at 4:00pm, meeting begins at 4:30pm
WHERE: Hilton Bellevue (Skyview room, 2nd floor), 300 112 Avenue SE, Bellevue, WA 98004
Live-streaming of testimony will be available on Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/cascadechapter/
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.