I read with dismay the editorial “Why ruin our rivers for China’s rulers?” The Daily Astorian, Sept. 28) and feel compelled to reply. It appears that The Daily Astorian did not fully research this issue, and missed some important facts.

Why build a methanol plant on the Columbia River in Columbia County? I’ll give you three reasons:

1. Jobs. This facility would be a $1.8 billion investment in Columbia County. It would create 1,000 construction jobs and approximately 200 permanent, family-wage jobs. These jobs would be a tremendous benefit for many residents in our county, which has an unemployment rate of 7.5 percent.

2. Climate Change. The reason China is converting its olefins manufacturing from an oil-and coal-based system to a natural gas-to-methanol system? Because it is better for the environment, reducing greenhouse gases and toxic wastes significantly.

Don’t we want China, the world’s leading manufacturing nation, to do more to protect the environment? And the idea that China will use the methanol just to make “dollar store junk” is not true. In reality, methanol is used to make many everyday products, from the carpet in your house to the windshield washer fluid in your car.

3. Value-added manufacturing. This isn’t an energy project, and it’s not the exporting of raw materials that some claim it to be. Northwest Innovation Works (NWIW) will build a value-added manufacturing facility — the kind that the state of Oregon wants to encourage. Whether we create computer chips, wood products or methanol, manufacturing creates good paying jobs that we want in Oregon.

The Columbia River has always been an integral part of our economic growth and quality of life in Columbia County. Do we need to protect that asset? Of course, and that’s why we have strict regulatory and permitting processes in place.

The reality is, we have less commercial traffic on the river today than we did 20 years ago, and many jobs have disappeared from the region. We can have both economic development and good environmental stewardship — we don’t have to choose one over the other.

The NWIW facility is good for our county and for northwest Oregon

Chuck Daughtry

Executive director, Columbia County Economic Team

St. Helens