Mar 19, 2018 - Washington State Joins in the Fight Against the Kinder Morgan Pipeline

Vancouver, BC – On Friday March 16th, Washington State Governor Jay Inslee announced his support opposing the construction of the Kinder Morgan pipeline.

At the Pacific Coast Collaborative meeting Inslee stated, “We in Washington are very appreciative of the leadership your premier is taking on this issue. We have serious questions about whether it really makes sense to be making such significant investments in fossil fuel infrastructure given the fact we know we need to wean ourselves off carbon based fuels. We are examining right now, and I have tasked my administration to scrub and look at, any possible marine safety provisions that we could enact by law.”

The announcement came just days after the Governor signed legislation to protect orcas, salmon and the Salish Sea.

Kinder Morgan supertanker route.

According to the Seattle PI, “The legislation sets out to identify and accelerate additional safety measures to prevent spills, such as dealing with the threat of barge traffic and working with British Columbia on risks of transport through the Salish Sea.”

The Trans-Mountain pipeline, backed by Houston based Kinder Morgan, would transport an estimated 890,000 barrels of tar sands crude from Alberta to Buraby, BC where it would be stored for export to Asian markets. An estimated 700 supertanker trips per year would carry the crude to foreign markets.

The pipeline is opposed by 1st Nations and Tribes along the Salish Sea.

by Wakíƞyaƞ Waánataƞ (Matt Remle- Lakota)

LRI’s Matt Remle with Chookenshaa AllenDick and Haliehana Stepetin at MMIW march. Photo by Alex Garland

Matt Remle (Lakota) is an editor and writer for Last Real Indians and LRInspire and the co-founder of Mazaska Talks. Follow @wakiyan7