Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility

"The short-term and long-term danger to Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) begins and ends with the fact that its rates are higher than the market rate for electricity and are likely to remain there if it continues on its current path," writes economist Robert McCullough in his latest report detailing hurdles faced by the Northwest's federal power marketing administration. The challenges faced are not insurmountable, particularly if BPA closely scrutinizes its contracts with the Columbia Generating Station, the Northwest's only nuclear power plant.

By Damon Motz-Storey, Oregon PSR Clean Energy Organizer

It was a strange year for the United Nations Climate Summit in Bonn, Germany. Par for the course after declaring intent to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, Donald Trump's official United States representatives to the climate talks in Germany were representatives from the coal, gas, and nuclear power industries. Lenka Kollar of NuScale Power (a nuclear reactor designer) sat directly to the left of Holly Krutka of Peabody Energy, the largest private-sector coal company in the world. The panel's title, “The Role of Cleaner and More Efficient Fossil Fuels and Nuclear Power in Climate Mitigation,” sounded like something out of a satirical newspaper.

Today the Washington State Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) unanimously recommended denial of the Tesoro Savage oil terminal in Vancouver, Washington. The final decision now falls to Governor Jay Inslee, and community leaders from around the region are calling on Gov. Inslee to deny the proposal swiftly, ending a four-year saga over the massive, 360,000-barrel-per day oil train terminal. A final written recommendation will be issued on December 19th.

“The future safety, well-being, and public health of our community depends on the choices we make today. Rejecting the proposed Tesoro-Savage oil terminal should be first on the list, “ stated Dr. Stan Freidberg, who has spent 37 years practicing cardiology and internal medicine at The Vancouver Clinic.

On Tuesday, November 14th, the Cowlitz County Hearing Examiner denied two shoreline use permits for the proposed Millennium coal export terminal in Longview, WA for causing significant unavoidable harm and failing to meet the requirements of the Shorelines Management Act. This decision marks the fourth independent denial of project permits; without these permits, Millennium cannot go forward.

Oregon PSR has joined over 160 groups in endorsing Measure 101, a coalition that includes doctors, nurses, healthcare advocates, hospitals, local businesses, and more. Join us in supporting health care for all Oregonians.

On October 25th, Oregon and Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility released a report indicating that the public could save as much as $1.18 billion in radioactive waste management and disposal expenses if the Columbia Generating Station (CGS) in Washington would close by 2019. The plant is the region's only nuclear power plant, operated by Energy Northwest and licensed to operate until 2043. If allowed to operate that long, the metric tons of spent nuclear fuel at the plant is projected to nearly double.

Following a series of conversations about how best to communicate our organizational values of equity, diversity, inclusion, and justice, Oregon PSR's Board of Directors recently approved the following statement:

Oregon PSR recognizes that diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice are crucial to healthy individuals, vibrant communities, and thriving organizations. We understand that our society has deeply embedded in it centuries of white supremacy and dominance, from the massacre and dispossession of native peoples, economies built on enslavement and disproportionate imprisonment of people of color and poor people to the concentration of wealth in the hands of a small, mostly white, elite power structure.

Have you celebrated the recent permit denial for Millennium’s coal export terminal yet? If not, here’s your invitation to a party (and public hearing) you don’t want to miss.