Portland, Oregon has suddenly become Ground Zero for the battle to save Planet Earth.

Canadian Pembina Corporation, a Canadian company deeply mired in the transport of propane, jumped over another hoop last week to create a super-shipping rail-to-seaport highway into a projected $500 million port destined for the heart of Portland.  The seaway is plotted to move 37,000 barrels of oil a day into China, making Portland the first such port in the nation.

The mayor of Portland, Charlie Hale, is waving Pembina’s banner high.  “This is great news.  We welcome this investment and these jobs in Portland.  The city is committed to growing our economy on the land we already have, and holding industry to very high environmental and public safety standards.  This proposal meets these goals.”

The Oregonian, Portland’s major daily newspaper, is not so gung-ho:  “Pembina Pipeline Corp.’s terminal in the Rivergate Industrial District would mean 1.3 mile-long trains full of propane passing through Portland every other day.  Up to 30 million gallons would be stored on site.  Massive tankers full of the fuel would transit the Columbia River two or three times a month.”

Rail cars would emanate from Alberta, Canada.  More detail is in the Portland Tribune’s account.

Efforts to manufacture propane are controversial because of two ways the volatile gas is derived: by fracking and through tar sands.  The process known as fracking is well known to Pennsylvanians; a free-for-all is taking place in the Keystone State’s hills and mountains overlying the Marcellus Shale, with disastrous harmful effects, namely methane gas, to the environment and the residents who live there.

Portland is one of 14 municipal or regional governmental entities recognized last month by President Obama’s White House as Climate Action Champions.  Two Native American tribal entities were added for a sweet total of 16.  You can see who was recognized at the White House website: click here.

Is turning Portland into a propane port the environmental “gotcha” that Republicans long to rub in the face of President Obama?  This is not good news, considering what scientists observed over the past year.

NOAA and NASA both rang an environmental alarm bell earlier this week when they concurred their readings show the 10 warmest years in world history occurred since 1997.  And last year, 2014, was the warmest yet and, alarmingly, the first time temperature records were broken without an El Niño, the atmospheric effect caused by the Pacific Ocean sending heat into the atmosphere.

Can you imagine?  Last year in Anchorage, Alaska, the temperature never dropped below zero!  For the New York Times’ analysis, click here.

The latest warnings pose a disturbing question: Have we passed an environmental “tipping point” – disabling possible reversal of global warming?

What is happening in Portland should cause worldwide alarm.  Portland has long been considered a hotbed of environmental activism.  If Portland tosses its reputation away, it not only opens the town to economic greed, it opens wide the door for the entire state.  Soon, the environmental sanctuary known as Portland could be gone.

According to the Portland Tribune, David Red Thunder, a resident of Hayden Island where fuel storage tanks would be placed, describes the proposed propane storage plan as “a ticking time bomb in the middle of a very special place.”

The next step in the permitting process takes place on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, when the Planning and Sustainability Commission votes to make a recommendation to the Portland City Council.

Prior to that time, the Commission is accepting written testimony from the public, says Yoko Silk of Portland Rising Tide.  The Commission’s email address is [email protected].  For those who prefer the traditional look of snailmail, it’s 1900 SW 4th Avenue, ATTN- PSC, Portland, OR 97201

Will the luck of the Irish cool down the monetary greed being exhibited by Portland’s so-called city fathers?  What argument shall carry the day?