Cherry Point is still at risk of becoming an unrefined fossil fuel export hub, and we need you to insist that the Whatcom County Council make permanent policies to protect public health and safety from the threat of these exports. More shipments of crude oil, tar sands, fracked gas, and coal will increase the risks of spills and explosions while jeopardizing local jobs.
After two years of public hearings and thousands of comments, legal experts will present a long-awaited advisory study on February 27th about the county’s powers to protect us from the threat of more bomb trains, pipelines, and tanker traffic in the Salish Sea.
Will you email the County Council today and ask them to again extend the moratorium?
We’re almost ready to move beyond temporary measures and implement lasting policies that can prevent the oil refinery shipping docks at Cherry Point from converting into crude oil export terminals. But we need more time for the public to weigh in on these new policies, and the current moratorium is set to expire next month.
SAVE THE DATE for a public hearing Tuesday, February 27th. The meeting begins at 6:00 PM, instead of the usual 7:00PM. You can sign-up to speak on a clipboard at the entrance to the Council Chambers. You only have three minutes to speak, so please look at our “How to make effective public comments” tips to make a clear, eloquent comment.
Email the Council: sample message
Subject: Extend the moratorium on permits for unrefined fossil fuel export projects
To: council@co.whatcom.wa.us
Honorable council members,
As a voting citizen of Whatcom County, I urge you to extend the moratorium on permits for unrefined fossil fuel export projects.
Now that the legal advisory study has been completed, I hope you will take comprehensive steps to institute conditions for county permits that prevent new or upgraded facilities from exporting unrefined fossil fuels.
Lifting the moratorium now would allow companies like BP, Kinder Morgan, Williams, SSA Marine and Petrogas to apply for permits and obtain vested rights, exempting them from new development regulations.
I support action to the greatest extent of your power to protect the people and natural resources of Whatcom County from risky expansions to export crude oil, tar sands bitumen, fracked gas, propane or coal through Cherry Point.
Thank you for serving our communities.
[Your full name]
[Your city, voting address optional]