Environment: LNG plant permit part of a double whammy

Re: “LNG plant gets key approval,” (TNT, 12/12).

What a great month Puget Sound Energy executives are having – and what a devastating month for the planet.

Two big announcements right on top of each other. First the final permit needed for PSE’s new LNG plant in Tacoma was awarded.

Then PSE announced its intent to sell its share in Colstrip – the Pacific Northwest’s single largest carbon emitter – to another utility for just $1, making the Montana plant potentially viable for decades in direct opposition to its customers’ demands to shut it down.

And as they simultaneously move to sell transmission lines that could be used to carry clean Montana wind power to Washington, we see a hint of what will come next – a plea to build new gas plants.

This happened despite hundreds of customers demanding in hearing after hearing that PSE get off fossil fuels and stop making us complicit in the warming of the planet.

Governor Inslee, we need your leadership to ensure Washington is doing its part to combat climate change. This month, we took two giant steps backward.

This story was originally published December 25, 2019 at 4:38 PM with the headline "Environment: LNG plant permit part of a double whammy."