Cascadia today: BC all in with LNG + fucking ash borer beetles + new PDX punk act Obedient
BC approves huge LNG facility
According to the Narwhal, the British Columbia government recently approved a 12-million ton liquefied natural gas facility at Ksi Lisims at the mouth of the Nass River. A joint venture between Canadian & US firms, and the Nisga’a First Nation, the project will be the second LNG export facility on the BC coast and is expected to begin operations in 2028. BC went forward without consent from other First Nations who are opposed, including the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs: “This project threatens our food security and government has denied Gitanyow a role in decision making,” said hereditary chief Malii Glen Williams. BC and Canada's feds are working to fast-track huge infrastructure projects despite environmental concerns or issues with worker safety. Meanwhile, Canada's prime minister pushed forward a plan to build 4,000 new homes on federal land –but forgot to include British Columbia, where housing costs are soaring.
For those in British Columbia fed up with the Canadian government's failure to address concerns here in Cascadia, you're always welcome to join Oregon and Washington in our movement towards autonomy.
Andrew Engelson
Seattle students protest reduced lunch time
Students at Seattle high schools walked out of classes this week to protest a new policy that would cut lunch time from 1 hour to 30 minutes, KUOW reports. Come on, Seattle Public Schools. Kids don't need an early introduction to US-style capitalism that sacrifices rest and sanity for the needs of billionaire owners. Plus, students often use that hour to organize clubs and political movements. They'll need that time, perhaps, to draw attention to how youth internship programs in local law enforcement agencies often lead to abuse, or organizing to prevent youth gun violence.
OR works to combat ash borer beetle
OPB reports on how scientists in Oregon are working to battle the emerald ash borer beeetle, which has been killing ash trees across North America and was first discovered in Forest Grove, OR in 2022. The biologists are growing thousands of Oregon ash trees, which are native to much of Cascadia, in the hopes of finding strains of the trees that are resistant to the voracious beetles, which usually succeed in killing the trees they infest.
High energy from PDX punk group Obedient
The Portland Mercury has a review of a new, hard-driving album from the Portland-based punk band Obedient, which is led by singer Lacey Karbomb and is definitely NOT obedient in any sense of the word. Their debut album, Rastafarsi, was recorded over five days in Astoria and it's got a seriously scrappy anti-capitalist fuck-you aesthetic. Enjoy! --Andrew Engelson
