“Keep It In the Ground” Movement Getting Fossil Fuel Industry’s Attention

When a pro-fossil-fuel trade group released a report listing fossil fuel projects thwarted by environmental groups, which groups did they mention the most? Sierra Club, Columbia Riverkeeper, and 350.org. Wear this as a badge of honor: the fossil fuel industry is complaining about us.

Can you guess the top three orgs mentioned in fossil fuel industry report?

As a Riverkeeper supporter, you are clearly making a difference in the eyes of the coal, oil, and fracked gas industry. A pro-fossil-fuel trade group released a new report that lists the key fossil fuel infrastructure projects thwarted by environmental groups. Can you guess which organizations’ names are mentioned the most in the report?

Here are the top three:
  1. Sierra Club
  2. Columbia Riverkeeper
  3. 350.org
U.S. Chamber Report
New Report by U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Global Energy Institute

Why does Columbia Riverkeeper crack the top three in a national publication, alongside two of the largest environmental groups in the nation? Why do we garner such attention from the fossil fuel corporations? Because Riverkeeper and allies are taking on some of the most important fossil fuel fights in the nation—and winning. You know that if these corporations build more infrastructure—export terminals, refineries, and pipelines—then we are locked into continued fossil fuel use for decades, which our climate cannot afford.

The report lists sixteen fossil fuel projects across the United States, including Keystone XL, that “have been delayed or cancelled almost entirely due to [Keep It In the Ground] activities, rather than, for example, financial reasons.”

Columbia Riverkeeper played a key role in 25% of the projects listed:
  • Millennium Bulk Terminal, Longview, WA (coal export) – Defeated! Stopped the export of 44 million tons of dirty coal per day. Still defending victories in court.
  • Kalama Methanol, Kalama, WA (fracked-gas-to-methanol refinery) – Permits pending. Won key lawsuit in 2017, but the project has come back strong. At stake is 320 million cubic feet per day of fracked gas—that’s more fracked gas than all industries, all gas-fired power plants, and all residences in Washington.
  • Oregon LNG, Warrenton, OR (LNG export) – Defeated! Stopped the export of 1.2 billion cubic feet per day of fracked gas.
  • Port Westward, Clatskanie, OR (coal, oil, and fracked gas projects) – Stopped the export of 30 million tons of coal per year. Won a 2019 lawsuit to protect 837 acres of farmland from industrialization.
And we supported coalition partners in three other projects listed in the report:
  • Jordan Cove LNG, Coos Bay, OR (LNG export)
  • Gateway Pacific Terminal, Cherry Point, WA (coal export)
  • Tacoma Methanol Project, Tacoma, WA (fracked-gas-to-methanol-refinery)

The success over fossil fuel infrastructure is due to the tenacity of tribal nations, the hard work of our partner organizations and the consistent investment by donors like you. I’m proud that Columbia Riverkeeper—a home-grown, regional organization—has drawn the ire of the fossil fuel giants.

Overall, the report highlights the extreme threats we are facing in the Pacific Northwest and how, together, we rose to the challenge. Thank you for helping to grow Columbia Riverkeeper into a national force while taking a stand for clean water and our climate. So wear this as a badge of honor: you are protecting our river and our climate and the fossil fuel industry is complaining about it.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce: Global Energy Institute

A pro-fossil-fuel trade group released a new report that lists the key fossil fuel infrastructure projects thwarted by environmental groups.