Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumCanadian Gas Company Pembina Sole Source Of Funding For Oregon Sheriff's Anti-Protest Unit
At a casino in the small coastal town of North Bend, Oregon, dozens of law enforcement officers and corporate security personnel gathered for a two-day training on how to wage propaganda battles against protesters. The November 2018 event was organized by the National Sheriffs Association, one of the countrys largest law enforcement organizations, and hosted by the Coos County Sheriffs Office, which has spent years monitoring opposition to the Jordan Cove Energy Project a proposed liquid natural gas pipeline and export terminal that the Trump administration has named one of its highest-priority infrastructure projects.
The cost of the event, however totaling $26,250 was paid by Pembina Pipeline Corp., the Canadian fossil fuel company that owns the Jordan Cove project.
In fact, for nearly four years, Pembina was the sole funding source of a unit in the sheriffs office dedicated to handling security concerns related to Jordan Cove despite the fact that there is not yet any physical infrastructure in place to keep secure. The pipeline and terminal cannot begin construction without approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which is scheduled to vote on whether to license the project in February. Yet between 2016 and 2020, the departments liquid natural gas division, known as a combined services unit, spent at least $2 million of Pembinas money. The energy company put the funding on hold in April 2019 but left open the possibility that the arrangement could be revived in the future. Pembina and the sheriffs department are currently discussing how they may continue to work together, and Coos County Sheriff Craig Zanni said he expects the partnership to be renewed.
In addition to hosting the law enforcement training, the unit used Pembinas funds to purchase riot control equipment, monitor the activities of Jordan Cove opponents, and coordinate intelligence-gathering operations with private security companies that also worked for Pembina. Local residents, environmental activists, and tribal members have staged rallies and sit-ins and participated in public hearings in opposition to the project, which they say would exacerbate the global climate crisis, damage vital waterways, and violate Indigenous sovereignty. Dozens of property owners could see their land seized via eminent domain. Law enforcement agencies often receive funding for equipment via corporate-backed professional associations and private foundations a practice that civil liberties groups have criticized as enabling private influence with little oversight. The arrangement between Pembina and the Coos County Sheriffs Office was unusual, however, given the departments scrutiny of activists engaged in First Amendment-protected speech in opposition to its corporate benefactor.
EDIT
https://theintercept.com/2020/02/12/jordan-cove-oregon-pembina-pipeline/
Firestorm49
(4,035 posts)Coordinate intelligence gathering operations with private security companies. !!!
If this stuff isnt another tell of the trouble were in, then I dont know what is.
Caution: If we ever decide to get off of our fat asses and start peaceful protesting, be sure to take some sort of face mask, take a Uber or Lyft to the event, and dont stare into the camera.
Man oh man, this stuff gets worse by the day. If you watched Rachel last night, you heard that were beyond talking about how bad it could get. Its now time to act, not sit back in amazement that Hitler Jr. and his band of Gypsies just took over the Inited States of America.