The proposed Chinese-backed world’s largest methanol refinery in Kalama would produce up to 2.9 million tons per year of CO2-equivalents making the refinery emissions second only to the Centralia coal-fired power plant which closes in 2025.
We are now in a comment period on the greenhouse gas Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement. The report ignores or downplays comprehensive studies and underestimates climate impacts. Instead, the report focuses on unsubstantiated simplistic assumptions about global methanol markets, energy commodity prices, Chinese government policy, and U.S.-China trade relations. Real economics is dynamic and not so simple.
The refinery would increase the amount of gas consumed in Washington State by over one-third, encourage fracking, necessitate new pipelines, and emit dangerous diesel particulate matter. We need to make it clear that we do not want this enormous polluter.
