Fortifying our Region Against Fossil Fuels

In addition to fighting specific terminals, Stand Up To Oil works to create local policy barriers in communities targeted by the fossil fuel industry to prevent bad projects from being proposed there in the first place.

We have successfully held the line on the bans established over the last few years, and we are seeing progress in moving from temporary moratoriums to permanent land use code changes, and ensuring these policies cover all fossil fuels, not just oil. This work is at a different stage in each community, but we have gained some important ground this past year and continue to engage in long-term planning efforts.

In Tacoma, we secured an interim regulation in 2017 barring new fossil fuel facilities, which we have successfully renewed every six months since. We continue to engage in a long-term planning process in an effort to ultimately secure land use code changes that establish a permanent ban on new facilities and expansions of existing facilities.

In Vancouver, WA, where we defeated the Tesoro Savage terminal in 2018, we are working to expand the City’s existing ban on new oil terminals into a ban on all bulk fossil fuel facilities. We are also advocating a similar ban at the Port of Vancouver, which in 2019 adopted a “will not pursue” new bulk fossil fuel terminals policy.

Finally, we have been working in Whatcom County to renew the moratorium on new or expanded fossil fuel export facilities every six months since it was first passed in 2016. The County is now considering a permanent land use code update that would ban all new fossil fuel facilities and place strong limitations on expansions of existing facilities, which we expect to be passed this fall.

See the other work that Stand Up To Oil has done to engage local governments!