Two union leaders and an environmental activist recently wrote an op-ed in the Seattle Times urging Jay Inslee to stop the “building (of) the nation’s largest oil-by-rail terminal, called Vancouver Energy, at Washington’s Port of Vancouver.” They claim that information provided in an environmental impact statement provides Inslee with “all the information he needs to deny the terminal.”
But, there is something the authors are overlooking—or conveniently forgetting. It wasn’t too long ago that Inslee was caught misleading the public about the project. According to emails acquired via public records request, the Inslee administration worked for months to facilitate the new oil refinery. The problem is, Inslee denied knowing anything about the project… before news of the emails broke. Presumably, Inslee’s denials were due to the fact that an oil refinery does not exactly mesh with the extreme “green” image he has established for himself.
Ultimately, as the authors in the op-ed point out, the final decision on the oil terminal is in Inslee’s hands. How he chooses to move forward—whether it’s proceeding with what he has already set in place or reversing course in order to cater to special interest groups—will be interesting to see.
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