By Laurie Caplan, Co-Chair Columbia Pacific Common Sense, Astoria, OR
Who are the people that stopped a $6 billion liquefied natural gas terminal and over 200 miles of gas pipeline? How did we have the patience to fight LNG projects for eleven-and-a-half years?
We are a cross-section of America: Mothers, retirees, students, and workers at every kind of job. A retired librarian led loud and vigorous rallies, and an energy company veteran explained global fossil fuel trends. A fisherman delivered passionate testimony about how salmon fishing on the Columbia feeds his kids—and his soul. A paper artist made sure we had fresh coffee at every meeting and event. A hospital administrator discovered errors and omissions in the small print and footnotes in company documents. A farmer told agency officials how losing land to a gas pipeline would jeopardize his future.
We stayed focused on the same shared purpose: to protect our communities and our children’s future. We began as optimists and had moments of doubt. Now, in victory, we emerge once again as optimists, trusting in grassroots power and ready to do battle with those who would destroy our communities and planet.
Perhaps Brett VandenHeuvel Columbia Riverkeeper’s Executive Director, said it best, “This was not an orchestrated campaign. This was a campaign where ideas flowed around kitchen tables and pastures, and where farmers and fishermen stood side by side with climate activists. This was a campaign whose heart and nerves showed the Pacific Northwest that we will prevail, in the end, no matter what.”
