Port’s environmentalism farce

In the era of Trump, we have experienced the normalization of deception and delusion; the lie and the willing gullibility for the lie. Yet this national phenomenon is also present locally in the environmental farce being played at the Port of Olympia.

Several years ago, the port actively solicited the importation of fracking proppants in callous disregard of its devastating environmental impacts, and of community sentiment against this business. Commissioner Bill McGregor and Executive Director Ed Galligan personally traveled to Houston to woo the importer, Rainbow Ceramics. Yet, when a large segment of the community protested, McGregor and Galligan put up the deceptive smokescreen that the port had been passive and legally bound to accept this cargo.

To this deception now comes the delusion in the form of recent environmental awards for the port. Its management has performed a deft sleight of hand in the realm of public relations. The port has taken several minor (albeit laudable) operational steps at its facilities. However, on the balance scale of environmental impact, these minor measures in no real way counter the massive environmental damage caused by the port’s fracking business.This imbalance produces an absurdity when the culpable port is applauded for its environmental responsibility. It seems to me that this deception comes from the same mindset that created the Orwellian notion of “clean coal.”

I, for one, choose not to be deluded by this farce.

This story was originally published April 26, 2017 at 5:33 PM with the headline "Port’s environmentalism farce."