{"id":3279,"date":"2016-01-12T13:14:10","date_gmt":"2016-01-12T21:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/earthministry.org\/?p=3279"},"modified":"2016-01-12T13:14:53","modified_gmt":"2016-01-12T21:14:53","slug":"3279-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/earthministry.org\/3279-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Want to Stop Oil Trains? We Have Work to Do!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Rev. Richenda Fairhurst was the dynamic MC of the\u00a0rally at last week&#8217;s oil hearing in Vancouver, WA. Her\u00a0enthusiasm and hope\u00a0energized the crowd who came together from across the state to stand up to\u00a0big oil&#8217;s proposal for the largest facility in North America.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-3283\" src=\"http:\/\/earthministry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Richenda-from-fb-cropped-300x164.jpg\" alt=\"Rev. Fairhurst Tesoro Hearing Rally\" width=\"300\" height=\"164\" srcset=\"https:\/\/earthministry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Richenda-from-fb-cropped-300x164.jpg 300w, https:\/\/earthministry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Richenda-from-fb-cropped-1024x559.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/earthministry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Richenda-from-fb-cropped-150x82.jpg 150w, https:\/\/earthministry.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Richenda-from-fb-cropped.jpg 1234w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>By Rev. Richenda Fairhurst\u00a0<br \/>Camas United Methodist Church\u00a0<br \/>United Methodist PNW Conference News\u00a0<br \/>January 12, 2016\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I am still celebrating today! Last week, more than 1000 people participated in a hearing on the proposed Tesoro Savage Oil Terminal in Vancouver, WA in the largest turnout for a public hearing in Clark County history. The plan would bring millions of gallons of oil into Vancouver, Washington, every day by rail. That oil would first be stored and then transferred onto ships that will sail on the Columbia River to the West Coast and beyond. This project directly impacts my own community where I live and serve; the trains loaded with explosive Bakken crude are already rolling through our Camas streets.<\/p>\n<p>I am celebrating today, but this endeavor did not begin with celebration. It began as I was sitting in my office feeling tired. It began as I read in the local paper about the problems at the Livingston Mountain mine, a gravel mining project in Camas territory. The people of Livingston Mountain have been crying out for years as the blasting continues. I attended a County Council hearing and wrote a letter to the editor of the local paper. But always I was worried about the clock. Are there enough hours in my pastor\u2019s day to help with this?<\/p>\n<p>I am celebrating today because the Holy Spirit doesn\u2019t take \u201cYes Lord, but I\u2019m tired\u201d for an answer. I had lunch with an organizer for Friends of the Columbia River Gorge not long after that. He was one of those Greenpeace activists that got between the whales and the harpoons of the whalers. He is also the incarnation of \u201ccool.\u201d We had Mexican food, talked about Tex Mex and New Mexican hatch chilies. And we talked about the oil trains, Bakken crude, and how good people can really, truly make a difference in this good world.<\/p>\n<p>I am celebrating today because I said \u201cYes.\u201d I connected with great people already working hard on Creation Care issues, including faith leaders like Rev. Jenny Phillips, Conference Minister for Environmental Stewardship and Advocacy, and Jessie Dye, Program and Outreach Director for Earth Ministry. I was asked to speak up, and now I\u2019m encouraging others to do the same. I see my role as standing alongside. I see my role as affirming the work of wellbeing in community. I read Psalm 104 and marvel how the psalmist lays it out telling us that God loves this \u201cbeautiful planet.\u201d We learn that this earth is in of itself a revelation of God. We learn that when we see life we see God, for life is a work of God who created it. \u201cEvery good thing we need, Your earth provides,\u201d the psalm tells us\u2014not to reflect our glory, but to reflect the glory of the Divine.<\/p>\n<p>I am celebrating today, but we have a long way to go. We have work to do if we want to really transition to a clean energy economy. We must speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. We fight for our children and grandchildren, yes. But the fight is much bigger than that. We are here to fight for all children, not just our own. We want them all, every one, to live and grow in a clean, sustainable world.<\/p>\n<p>I am celebrating today because we are in the last gasp of the industrial age! The truth is being made known that fossil fuels ARE destructive to human health and well-being. Let every creature rejoice! Momentum is shifting. We know the truth, and knowing this, O ye of good heart, stand up and ask, \u201cWhat is the next best thing that I can do?\u201d Stand up and say \u201cNo\u201d to oil and \u201cYes\u201d to God.<\/p>\n<p>To read the original article, please <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/want-to-stop-oil-trains-we-have-work-to-do\/\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Your voice is powerful! Be sure to <a href=\"http:\/\/earthministry.org\/comment-on-north-americas-largest-proposed-oil-by-rail-facility-2\/\">submit your comment<\/a> on the proposed Tesoro oil terminal by\u00a0January 22.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rev. Richenda Fairhurst was the dynamic MC of the\u00a0rally at last week&#8217;s oil hearing in Vancouver, WA. Her\u00a0enthusiasm and hope\u00a0energized the crowd who came together from across the state to stand up to\u00a0big oil&#8217;s proposal for the largest facility in&#x2026; <\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-container\"><a href=\"https:\/\/earthministry.org\/3279-2\/\" class=\"more-link wp-block-button__link\"><svg class=\"svg-icon th-fill-current\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"img\" focusable=\"false\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"none\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" stroke=\"currentColor\"><path stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\" d=\"M13 9l3 3m0 0l-3 3m3-3H8m13 0a9 9 0 11-18 0 9 9 0 0118 0z\" \/><\/svg> Read More <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Want to Stop Oil Trains? We Have Work to Do!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-oil-news","category-press-clip","comments-off"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/earthministry.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/earthministry.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/earthministry.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/earthministry.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/earthministry.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3279"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/earthministry.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3288,"href":"https:\/\/earthministry.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3279\/revisions\/3288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/earthministry.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/earthministry.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/earthministry.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}