Crosscut published this op-ed by Yakama Nation member Emily Washines on December 31, 2020.
In our Yakama culture, we must speak for the resources because they can no longer speak for themselves.
State permits for a proposed fracked-gas-to-methanol plant are being considered now and a decision is expected. The proposed methanol refinery in Kalama poses a significant threat to Nch’i Wana, the Columbia River, and our already endangered salmon.
The Kalama methanol refinery, if built, would rely on fracking, which has no place in the Columbia River Basin or a low-carbon future. I say this as a mother, a small business owner, an enrolled member of the Yakama Nation, a member of Columbia Riverkeeper’s Board of Directors, and a life-long advocate for Native rights and cultures. The Columbia River binds our region together. It provides our sacred first foods. It is where Yakama tribal members exercise our treaty rights to take salmon, eel-like lamprey, sturgeon and smelt. We must reject massive projects that will worsen the climate crisis.
Recently, a federal court highlighted how the Kalama methanol refinery project could harm our river, our climate and our ways of life. The court, in responding to arguments made by Columbia Riverkeeper and other groups opposed to the methanol plant, made several important points. First, the judge ruled that it was arbitrary for federal agencies to rely on the Chinese government-backed Northwest Innovation Work’s speculative claims about displacing overseas climate pollution. Second, the court argued it was illegal to ignore the refinery’s impacts on local air quality. And third, the court also agreed with Columbia Riverkeeper about the need to study how the methanol refinery would trigger new gas pipeline construction throughout our region — something state and local reviews have so far ignored. Gov. Jay Inslee and the Department of Ecology should heed these warnings.