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OUR VIEW Our View: Governor should not try to tilt LNG process MailTribune.com Writer Posted Oct. 25, 2015 @ 12:01 am Posted Oct. 25, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2325,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> Opponents of the proposed liquefied natural gas export terminal and pipeline are calling on Gov. Kate Brown to actively oppose the project, but the governor has limited power to affect the outcome. Suggestions that she should pressure state agencies to kill the project are essentially calling on her to put her thumb on the scales of a regulatory process. That would be not only ill-advised, but legally questionable. In any case, market forces may doom this project before it starts, just as earlier plans to import gas by the same route were scrapped when gas prices plunged. Veresen Inc., a Canadian company, wants to build a plant at Coos Bay that would liquefy natural gas by cooling it so it could be shipped to Asian markets by sea. Pacific Connector is the company that plans to build a 232-mile pipeline from Malin to Coos Bay to supply the LNG terminal. The Jordan Cove project was first proposed in 2006 to import gas from Asia because the U.S. was experiencing a shortage of gas for domestic use. Anti-LNG activists credit then Gov. Ted Kulongoski for stopping the project in 2010, but the reality is somewhat different. Kulongoski did oppose the project, and filed a challenge in January 2010 asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reconsider its conditional approval of the LNG project. Kulongoski and Attorney General John Kroger threatened to take the case to the appeals court level if FERC refused to reconsider. The following September, pipeline company Pacific Connecter filed its own lawsuit against the state of Oregon, accusing officials of illegally preempting federal law to block the project by requiring signatures from all affected property owners before the state would process the company's permit application. Ultimately, Jordan Cove withdrew the project from consideration because new natural gas production in the U.S. ended the supply problem and dropped prices, so importing gas no longer made economic sense. Governor Brown could express the same vocal opposition that Kulongoski did, but she has no power to actually stop the project. And too much opposition could invite another court challenge. Federal law gives FERC the ultimate decision-making power over energy projects. State agencies, including the Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of State Lands, must approve permits before the project can move forward, and certainly those agencies should make sure all environmental concerns are addressed. But it would not be appropriate for the governor to pressure those agencies to deny the applications, either. That would almost certainly put the state back in court as a defendant in a case it would deserve to lose. Those decisions may turn out to be moot. Energy industry analysts are suggesting that falling prices for LNG in Asia mean five LNG export terminals already under construction or about to begin on the Gulf Coast and East Coast are the only ones likely to be operating five years from now, leaving Jordan Cove and Oregon LNG, a proposed terminal on the Columbia River, out of the action. "Jordan Cove has yet to receive any contracts with Asian buyers at all at this point, and we're certainly not going to put it in our forecast until they have a serious deal, and that is looking increasingly unlikely given what is happening in the global market," one industry analyst said. The next step in the process is for the FERC to issue a "certificate of public convenience or necessity," which could come by the end of the year. But if Jordan Cove can't prove it will have buyers waiting when the pipeline is finished, FERC should reject the project now. MailTribune.com Writer Posted Oct. 25, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Comment or view comments Terms of Service /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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