Tacoma: Keep methanol plant out of Tacoma

The proposed methanol plant has left many Tacomans feeling helpless. We’re getting a taste of how millions of folks (usually poor and of color) around the world feel when they’re forced to trade health and lives of their children for jobs because of our dependence on fossil fuels and cheap plastic.

The proposed plant would disproportionately affect the neighboring Puyallup reservation and Northwest Detention Center, which imprisons more than 1,000 immigrants.

We’re currently negotiating cleanup of the last Superfund site, the Occidental Chemical/Hylebos waterway. We have already invested millions in cleaning up our valuable waterways that give life to our city. Why would we turn around and allow a Chinese investor to desecrate our beautiful bay and cheap natural gas for a measly 260 jobs?

It’s time for our elected officials to lead our beloved community to a truly innovative future that explores energy not based on hydrocarbons (I’m talking to you, Jay Inslee and Connie Bacon).

If we move forward by honoring our commitment to each other and our land, we are in a prime position to host truly breakthrough energy companies. Anything else is shortsighted.

This story was originally published January 29, 2016 at 2:16 PM with the headline "Tacoma: Keep methanol plant out of Tacoma."