Portland's efforts to crack down on fossil fuels just won big

[turbinetree]

The "green wall of resistance" sees some reinforcement from the courts.
E.A. CRUNDEN
AUG 1, 2018, 1:05 PM

Oregon’s Supreme Court has handed a major victory to Portland, upholding the city’s right to greatly restrict fossil fuel infrastructure. The measure has been a source of controversy and considerable back-and-forth over the past few years as business groups have sought to challenge the ordinance.

On Tuesday, the court declined to review a Oregon Court of Appeals decision issued in January that affirmed Portland’s constitutional right to prohibit new fossil fuel infrastructure, including storage and distribution terminals for oil and gas.

In 2016, the Portland City Council unanimously approved the ordinance limiting the construction of such terminals. This lead business groups to appeal the issue to Oregon’s Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA). The Columbia Pacific Building Trades Council, Portland Business Alliance and Western States Petroleum Association have led the opposition to the city’s efforts.

LUBA ruled that Portland had violated the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution in that it restricted interstate commerce, a decision that was later overturned by the Court of Appeals. Tuesday’s decision by the state Supreme Court upholds that ruling, finding that Portland’s ordinance is not unconstitutional after all.

https://thinkprogress.org/oregon-portland-fossil-fuel-infrastructure-court-5183f967d9a6/

[gratuitous]

1. That's good news

Less likely that a large swath of Portland will get flattened in an explosion, or that a large area of land adjacent to two major rivers will become a new Superfund site.

The giveaway on these projects is how various places aren't being bribed to take them on. When there's something desirable to be sited on the west coast, Oregon usually loses out to Washington or California. When it's a dead skunk project, the corporate forces band together to force it on a community.