This story was originally published by Fusion and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
The Pacific Northwest is proving that grassroots action against the fossil fuel industry can work, and the strategies they’re using can be used anywhere.
The region has seen a tsunami of fossil fuel infrastructure proposals in the last few years — from coal export, oil-by-rail, liquefied natural gas, and more.
“And what we have seen happen, very much to everyone’s surprise, is that local grassroots opposition stopped every single project they fought against,” said Eric de Place, Sightline Institute’s policy director on energy policy. Sightline Institute is a sustainability research and communications center in the Pacific Northwest.
“The fossil fuel industry may dominate in Congress, but we crush them at the local level,” de Place said. “I think it’s a tremendously powerful technique.”
That opposition at the local level was summed up by 1 million comments — all from a public opposing new fossil fuel infrastructure projects in their communities.
The comments were delivered to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on May 11 by a coali... Read more
