What a week. Pope Francis calls for action to save the environment. China announces a cap-and-trade policy to limit carbon emissions. The UN adopts global goals for sustainable development. Major corporations including Nike, Starbucks, Walmart and Goldman Sachs commit to 100 percent renewable energy. Locally, Portland and Multnomah County commit to fossil fuel divestment.

Meanwhile, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission comes to Oregon for sham hearings as it moves toward approving construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at the mouth of the Columbia River. The terminal, proposed by Leucadia, a New York City holding company, would take tar-sands gas from Canada and the mid-West, liquefy it, then ship it to Asia in massive tankers. It would be one of Oregon’s largest emitters of carbon dioxide and methane, thus canceling Oregon’s progress toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The city councils of both Astoria and Vernonia recently passed resolutions in opposition to the LNG terminal and its associated pipelines, and the risks they pose to the environment and public safety. Together with many hundreds of Oregonians, we call upon Gov. Kate Brown to block this climate-destroying proposal.

Martha and Allen Neuringer

Glenwood