OLYMPIA, Washington – Washington state officials on Tuesday rejected a key permit for a proposed giant methanol plant, assigning the chemical to China for use in everything from fabrics and touch lenses to iPhones and medical devices would cause too much pollution.

A significant increase in greenhouse fuel emissions and inconsistencies with the Coast Management Act were the main reasons why permission for the planned Columbia River project was rejected, the State Ecology Department said in a press release.

Northwest Innovation Works’ proposed $2 billion plant in Kalama would take herbal fuel from Canada and turn it into methanol, and then ship to China to manufacture olefins, compounds used in many products.

Environmental research through the state firm revealed that the facility would be one of the largest carbon pollutant resources in Washington, emitting nearly one million metric tons in line with the year in the state, and millions more through the extraction of herbal gas, shipping the product. Asia and the end-uses of methanol, officials said.

“I don’t think we still had the selection to refuse permission for the Kalama project,” Ecology Director Laura Watson said in a written statement. “The facility’s known and verifiable emissions would be incredibly significant and its effects on the Washington environment. would be and harmful. “

Last year, the Ministry of Ecology demanded additional environmental analysis, saying that after five years of planning, its supporters had provided sufficient data on greenhouse fuel emissions and how they would be compensated.

The company has 21 days to appeal the authorization decision.

“While we are disappointed with this resolution and comparing our features for a quick appeal, we are confident that science and explanation of why they will prevail,” Kent Caputo, a lawyer for Northwest Innovation Works, said in a press release.

The company is supported by the Chinese government and said the allocation will create 1,000 jobs and generate up to $40 million in annual tax revenue. The company also stated that it would offset all emissions produced directly or in Washington state.

“We have volunteered to identify the mitigation criteria that will make Washington State the national leader,” said Simon Zhang, executive director of Northwest Innovation Works, in the press release. “Let’s create a style assignment for Kalama, the state and the nation. “

Gov. Jay Inslee, who once subsidized the allocation as a seasoning for the economy, replaced his stance in May 2019 by signing an invoice to ban fracking, the Seattle Times reported.

Inslee said at the time that it might not be a smart aid to the methanol plant as well as to a Tacoma liquefied herbal fuel project, because they would not achieve what it takes to combat climate change. have no effect on the regulatory decision-making process.

Conservation groups, including Columbia Riverkeeper, the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity, have strongly opposed others.

“We continue to claim that these dirty fossil fuel projects do not jeopardize our continued lifestyle by accelerating the climate crisis and the destruction of critical habitats,” Jared Margolis, a lawyer at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a press release. Washington has intensified and rejected this monstrosity.

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