Methanol: Plant's about global warming, not jobs

The importance of the proposed Tacoma methanol plant is not jobs but its impact on global warming. Plain and simple: If you believe global warming and climate change are important, then you support the methanol plant.

Our governor has made combating global warming a top priority, and thus he supports the methanol plant. The world can avoid the worst global warming outcomes only if China curbs its alarming carbon emissions growth. China accounts for 28 percent of global carbon emissions – twice the U.S. level.

China must move away from coal, now 70 percent of its primary energy mix; 25 percent of the sulfate pollution on the West Coast of the U.S. is air pollution caused by Chinese manufacturers and blown across the Pacific Ocean.

Climate change can only be addressed if China transitions to cleaner forms of energy. That requires U.S. assistance.

Transitioning from coal to natural gas is a critical step toward curbing greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gases are global; a natural gas-fired methanol plant in Tacoma is as important as one in China.

Tacoma must lean in, recognize that NIMBY is meaningless when it comes to global warming and actively support this transition to a clean energy future.

This story was originally published March 30, 2016 at 12:10 PM with the headline "Methanol: Plant's about global warming, not jobs."