— from Shaun Hubbard, San Juans Alliance —

Dear Safe Shippers,

At some point today, March 24, 2014, the 25th Anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, please take a moment to reflect on the mistakes of the past.

Let’s do what we can to never repeat them.

************

Here are a few links to information about the spill and about the increase in fossil fuel shipments in our region. With the increase of shipments comes the increase in the probability of an Exxon Valdez-like accident happening here in our islands.

The media is full of this news today — all you have to do is Google “Exxon Valdez Oil Spill 25”. Let’s hope we are never ever on Google as “San Juan Islands Oil Spill.” Instead of just hoping, however, there are ways to take action (see below).

Thank you for advocating for Safe Shipping in our island waters!

************

“The Thin Green Line” video:

The Pacific Northwest stands at a crossroads. Widely recognized as a global leader in sustainability, the region now faces the prospect of becoming the primary gateway to Asian markets for massive quantities of fossil fuel.

************

Excerpt from Sightline Daily article:

The Thin Green Line

The Pacific Northwest – including our islands – stand squarely between the most voracious energy markets in the world and huge fossil fuel deposits in the interior of North America—Powder River Basin coal, Bakken shale oil, Alberta tar sands, and remote natural gas fields.

But to get these products to market, energy companies first have to build new terminals and pipelines to move all that fuel. They need destinations for the scores of oil and coal trains that they plan to run across the Northwest, and they need right-of-ways to lay new pipelines. And they need our waters to ship it through.

In short, they need our permission.

So it is by geographic accident that the Northwest, perhaps the greenest corner of North America, will play an outsize role in determining the planet’s climate future. Will we double-down on coal and oil use, thereby jeopardizing our chance at a stable climate? Or will we act as a thin green line, insisting that we must do better—that our economy and our children demand a cleaner future?

************
Today’s interview on KPLU radio with our fellow San Juan Islander, Kim Sundberg:
As a habitat biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Sundberg had commented on oil spill contingency plans for the state Department of Environmental Conservation. He’d even co-authored an impact analysis report on how an oil spill might affect fish and wildlife in the area. When that experience actually unfolded three years later, Sundberg says the experience was “something like going to war.”
************
Another personal reflection from Lopezian journalist Mike Sato:
I learned about the Exxon Valdez going aground 25 years ago while working in corporate communications for the investor-owned utility, Hawaiian Electric Company. We sadly watched the national news for days as 11 million gallons of oil spread and coated the pristine shorelines.
 
Are we better prepared to keep the genie in the bottle with better spill prevention measures? Are we better prepared to try to get the genie back in the bottle with better spill recovery measures?
 
************
To learn more about oil and water in the San Juans:
Island Crossroads: Vessel Traffic, Oil Spills and YOU
The April Membership Meeting of the San Juan League of Women Voters will be devoted to a presentation from Lovel Pratt and Shaun Hubbard on the several new and expanding fossil fuel terminal and refinery projects that propose to significantly increase large vessel traffic in the waters surrounding San Juan County. We will learn about the increased risks of a major oil spill as a result of the increased vessel traffic, and the work of San Juan Islanders for Safe Shipping and the San Juans Alliance. The presentation will include an update on Kinder Morgan’s application for the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project, and the status of the LWVSJ’s ability to submit comments during the application review process.
Monday, April 14, 2014
12:00 – 2:00PM
San Juan Island Library 1010 Guard Street
 
************
For further reading on EV 25:
“Red Light to Starboard: Recalling the Exxon Valdez Disaster” by Angela Day. Washington State University Press.
“Jones noted the red buoy light remained on the right as the ship departed the port. Her ‘red light to starboard’ declaration would prove to be the last of a litany of signals of impending disaster. It served as a metaphor for the unheeded warnings that fishermen and citizens, and whistleblowers at the Alyeska Terminal [Prince William] and the Department of Environmental Conservation had sounded over the past decade.”
************
And finally, for a bit of levity:
Australian Coal Mining Policy Update 2014 video (PG for explicit language).
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

**If you are reading theOrcasonian for free, thank your fellow islanders. If you would like to support theOrcasonian CLICK HERE to set your modestly-priced, voluntary subscription. Otherwise, no worries; we’re happy to share with you.**