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1 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Coos Bay woman arrested for murder 7 months after husband stabbed ... OHP rule changes lead to closure of waterbirth center in Medford ... Southern Oregon man pleads in multi-state money laundering case ... Coos Bay woman arrested for murder 7 months after husband stabbed ... OHP rule changes lead to closure of waterbirth center in Medford ... Southern Oregon man pleads in multi-state money laundering case ... GUEST OPINION Guest Opinion: Rural Oregon, sacrifice zone for proposed LNG export projects? Comment By Deb Evans MailTribune.com By Deb Evans Posted Oct. 24, 2015 at 12:01 AM By Deb Evans Posted Oct. 24, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News I received an appeal recently to donate to Sen. Ron Wyden’s re-election campaign. As things stand now, I will not even vote for Sen. Wyden, much less send him money. Why? Because I believe Sen. Wyden, as well as Sen. Jeff Merkley, have set rural Oregon up to be a sacrifice zone, solely so that a Canadian corporation, Veresen, can profit from the proposed Jordan Cove/Pacific Connector Pipeline project. Versen would profit while the 700 impacted property owners will lose tens of millions of dollars in property value. Versen would profit while Oregon consumers and businesses would pay millions more for natural gas as our relatively inexpensive resource is shipped to more lucrative markets in Asia. Veresen would profit, while the power plant, built to liquefy 100 percent of the natural gas for export, would account for one ton of CO2 equivalent pollution per capita. That is half of the limit of two tons of CO2e per capita which Gov. Kate Brown has committed Oregon to achieve by 2050. To meet this ambitious goal, Brown would need to exercise the power that only she has to stop this project, as Gov. Kulongoski did in 2010 when it was proposed as an import terminal. And for what? For 150 permanent jobs, many of which are highly specialized and will probably not even go to residents of Coos Bay. This is far less than the existing jobs that will be lost in fisheries, oyster farms, recreation, agriculture, and tourism. For threats to our safety from putting a volatile high-pressure infrastructure across our earthquake- fire- and tsunami-prone region. For the project's huge contribution to climate change, which has already led to the increased drought and wildfire Oregon experienced this year. Research on fracking shows that the life cycle emissions of natural gas contribute more to global warming than coal because of fugitive emissions of methane (86 times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas). So this is not a "bridge fuel," this is swan-diving right over the climate change cliff! It is not an accident that the project goes through 232 miles of rural Southern Oregon where the people do not have the income to be able to fend off the corporate promises that have commandeered the attention of our statewide office holders. One thing I am certain of is that the majority of landowners will fight tooth and nail to ensure that private corporations are not granted access to defile their homes and livelihoods. Who wouldn’t, after receiving a one-time offer of $2,000, as we were, for bearing this risk in perpetuity? To say that we are angry and feel betrayed by our top elected officials and the "business-as-usual" corporations that have bamboozled them is an understatement. We should be moving full speed toward renewable clean energy and building a resilient climate change economy. Instead, Wyden and Merkley claim this project is a "public benefit." Why do Wyden and Merkley continue to point out that Keystone XL and drilling in the Arctic are bad, and that somehow, selling off our natural gas to Asian markets on the backs of 700-plus Oregon property owners is good? And just a week ago, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a Final Environmental Impact Statement analyzing the project, yet still failing to address many key issues. Governor Brown can stop Jordan Cove in its tracks by using state authority to deny authorizations that would violate state law, and challenging FERC’s eventual approval expected this December. The $64 question is: Will she? Or will she sacrifice Oregon’s clean energy future in exchange for 20-plus years of antiquated fossil fuel nightmare for the citizens of rural Oregon? It is a travesty of the highest kind that future generations will scratch their heads over. I just wonder how these elected officials will sleep at night, knowing that they were contributors to the problem, not to the future that we need to be moving towards. It's not too late, Kate Brown, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, for you to Stand Up for Oregon! and protect our homes and our way of life. So, I'm afraid both the senators have lost my vote and my checkbook. If they change their minds, I hope they will let me know. And I am still counting on Kate Brown to be our modern-day Tom McCall and Stand Up for Oregon!, earn our support and stop this project, which she has the power to do. Deb Evans of Ashland owns 157 acres of timber ground in Klamath County that would be affected by the proposed Pacific Connector Pipeline. By Deb Evans MailTribune.com By Deb Evans Posted Oct. 24, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » 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. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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