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Coal terminal opponent signed Cylvia Hayes to contract a year before Kitzhaber opposed project [The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.](Oregonian (Portland, OR) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 22--Updated with statement from Governor's office: A company hired to persuade Gov. John Kitzhaber to block a massive coal export terminal had a year earlier retained First Lady Cylvia Hayes as a consultant. Resource Media Inc., a Seattle-based environmental PR firm, helped coordinate a media campaign last spring aimed at convincing Kitzhaber that a proposed coal export terminal at the Port of Morrow was a bad idea. That was a year after the company hired Hayes as a paid consultant through her Bend-based company, 3E Strategies. In February 2013, Resource Media inked 3E Strategies to a 10-week, $20,611 contract Coal terminal opponents reached out to Hayes in early 2014 to discuss the coal issues and keep her updated on their anti-export terminal campaign. Kitzhaber has long voiced concern about the environmental impact of coal. But soon after the environmentalists' campaign, he came out forcefully against the coal terminal. "It is time once and for all to say no to coal exports from the Pacific Northwest," Kitzhaber said. "It is time to say yes to national and state energy policies that will transform our economy and our communities into a future that can sustain the next generation." In August, the Oregon Department of State Lands rejected the export terminal's application for necessary permits. The Resource Media contract is one of three Hayes contracts now under review by the Oregon Government Ethics Commission after allegations Hayes used her position and connections to get consulting contracts. Records released by the governor's office showed his staff reviewed ethical matters surrounding the Resource Media contract but approved her participation five months after the contract ended. Kitzhaber asked for a formal opinion from the ethics commission on the legality of the arrangement. Subsequently, the commission received two formal complaints alleging the contracts were unethical. Backers of the terminal, including Ambre Energy and the Port of Morrow, are convinced they didn't get a fair shake from the state. Recent news of Hayes' past financial relationship with Resource Media only heightened their concerns. "It's suspicious, that's for darn sure," said Gary Neal, general manager of the Port of Morrow. "I am challenged to believe there wasn't political pressure on the decision making process. I hope they're investigating all these components." Hayes didn't respond directly to requests for comments, but representatives for her and Kitzhaber's office say there was no cause-and-effect between her Resource Media contract and the state's rejection of the coal terminal. They point out that Hayes was to work on ocean acidification, not coal. Kitzhaber made clear his concerns about coal's environmental impact and the link between coal and climate change long before his fiancee was retained by Resource Media. "Since he was inaugurated in 2011, the Governor has been an outspoken environmental leader, calling for action on a national energy policy and asking tough questions about the environmental and health impacts of burning coal--regardless of whether it is burned here or in Asia," said Kitzhaber spokeswoman Rachel Wray. "Any suggestion that he's new to the issue or that his concerns about coal are separate from his core positions as a governor, a doctor, and a father is ridiculous and ignores his long-standing efforts to change our national conversation about the burning of fossil fuels." Yet, allegations that Hayes has taken advantage of her position and connections in the governor's office to win consulting work have changed the landscape for Kitzhaber. Everything the governor has done and will do will be run through the Cylvia Hayes litmus test: Did the decision of the day benefit her or one of her clients? Ambre proposed the $242 million coal export terminal in 2011, picking a site at the Port of Morrow in Boardman. At full operation, the terminal would send 8 million metric tons a year of Wyoming and Montana coal down the Columbia River. The project would create 2,100 construction jobs and as many as 1,000 permanent ones, Ambre said. The project was in the midst of a long regulatory review in the spring of 2013. It was on Feb. 19, 2013, that Hayes' company began work for Resource Media. Officials at the non-profit declined interview requests but explained in a written statement from company President Scott Miller that 3E Strategies worked "to help raise awareness about the connection between a clean energy economy and marine health." Specifically, Resource Media's contract says "3E Strategies (Cylvia Hayes) will build stronger commitment among key West Coast audiences to develop and support policies that conserve our marine resources and boost our West Coast economy." It called for payments to Hayes of $20,611 and maximum travel expenses of $5,324. While Hayes' contract with Resource Media makes no mention of the proposed terminal, her work for Resource Media had plenty to do with coal. Rising acid levels in the oceans are directly related to coal and other carbon fuels. Hayes has long been a fierce proponent of a "clean economy" free of coal. "As the first place in the world to experience real-time ecosystem and economic disruption from ocean acidification, the West Coast has become a dynamic laboratory for a carbon-imbalanced world," Hayes writes on the 3E Strategies website. "We are the canary in the global coal mine. Much is riding on our response." The environmentalists' anti-coal terminal campaign, led by the Power Past Coal Coalition, got going in March 2014. Resource Media's primary assignment was conducting a social media campaign against the terminal. Kimberly Larson, spokeswoman for the Power Past Coal Coalition, said Hayes did not play a significant role in the anti-terminal effort. The opponents met with Hayes and kept her informed about the issue as part of a broader effort to build support among political and business leaders. Kitzhaber apparently did not meet with anyone from Resource Media during the campaign. His calendar showed no such meetings, according to officials in the governor's office. But Kitzhaber left no doubt where he stood in a speech last April 25. "Ambre Energy has been given two years to show that its proposal will meet Oregon's regulatory standards and to date has been unable to demonstrate its ability to do so," the governor told the Oregon League of Conservation Voters. "The future for Oregon and the West Coast does not lie in nineteenth century energy sources." Four months later, the Department of State Lands declined Ambre's request to build the terminal, ruling it would harm the local tribal fishery and was not consistent with the state's goals to conserve and protect its water resources. Ambre and the Port of Morrow have appealed the ruling. Brett VandenHeuvel, of Columbia Riverkeeper, said stopping the terminal had more to do with grass-roots opposition than friends in high places. "This was an unprecedented campaign involving hundreds of thousands ofmembers of the public," he said. "It's a bit demeaning to the public to say that the decision was overly influenced by Cylvia." -- Jeff Manning ___ (c)2014 The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.) Visit The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.) at www.oregonian.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |