A ballot measure that would have blocked a controversial gas pipeline and export terminal proposal has been decisively shot down by voters in Coos County.
The so-called “Community Bill of Rights” measure would have prohibited any “non-sustainable” energy project in the county along Oregon’s south coast. That could have killed the proposed Jordan Cove liquid natural gas terminal in Coos Bay.
Mary Geddry , one of Measure 6-162’s petitioners, blames the loss on a well-financed corporate media blitz that created fear and doubt about the measure.
"I don’t think it signifies support for the Jordan Cove project," Geddty told JPR." I think they just scared people out of being their own decision-makers, because that’s what this ordinance was all about, allowing the community to be the decision-maker."
Veresen Inc., the Canadian company behind the Jordan Cove proposal, put nearly $600,000 into the campaign to defeat the measure, resulting in a barrage of ads on TV, radio and newspapers. Supporters raised about $13,000.
The measure lost by a three-to-one margin, 24 to 76 percent.
