Not so fast

The state of Oregon has asked federal energy regulators to rescind their approval of a natural gas pipeline and liquefied natural gas terminal in Coos Bay now that backers say they want to reverse the flow of gas and export compressed gas rather than import it. It's more than reasonable to make backers demonstrate that the benefits to the public of exporting gas outweigh any environmental considerations.

In 2009, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission granted conditional approval of the Jordan Cove LNG import terminal project and the 234-mile Pacific Connector pipeline, planned to stretch across Southern Oregon from Coos Bay to Malin on the California border. Supercooled liquefied gas brought in by cargo ships would be warmed back to a gaseous state in Coos Bay and then transported through the pipeline to Malin, where it would connect to a pipeline taking it into California.
Federal regulators said at the time that the public benefit of bringing in natural gas supplies from Australia, Russia or the Mideast outweighed any environmental issues posed by the project.

Since then, however, the world natural gas market has done an about-face. Domestic supplies of gas have soared thanks to new extraction techniques, and a new pipeline recently completed from the Rockies to Malin means there is plenty of gas flowing to the California market.

Now, the backers of the Jordan Cove project want to reverse course and pipe gas from the Rockies to Coos Bay, liquefy it and export it by ship to the Far East, where gas prices have soared.

That may or may not be a great deal for Jordan Cove. The project's main spokesman says its parent company has not yet decided whether to aggressively pursue an export permit.

If it does, it seems reasonable to take a fresh look at the risks and potential benefits of the project. Certainly there is greater public interest in maintaining adequate gas supplies by importing gas than there is in making profits for a private company by exporting gas.

The project would generate jobs, although how many permanent ones is unclear. Jordan Cove's website, which still lists information about importing LNG, says the project would generate 1,000 temporary construction jobs and approximately 60 permanent jobs in Coos Bay to operate the terminal.

The state Department of Justice, which asked FERC to revoke Jordan Cove's permit, argued that exporting gas would drive up domestic prices. It's certainly wise to determine whether that would happen.

In September, when Jordan Cove first announced its intention to pursue exporting, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden said, "I think it's premature to conclude that the United States now has so much natural gas that it can afford to export it overseas. I think there ought to be a time-out on approving LNG exports until there is a better understanding of how much natural gas there is, whether it can be safely extracted, and what the impact on the U.S. economy would be from LNG exports."

Our sentiments exactly.