Things did not look so promising in the weeks and months leading up to the meeting. Calpine attempted to woo local officials and community leaders through a "backroom" public relations campaign, with its "expert" making regular visits to claim LNG is safe and somehow good for the environment.
It looked like it might pay off for Calpine in mid-December, when the Eureka City Council revealed a land agreement to sell the company 400 acres of public land and scheduled a public hearing with only five days' notice. Fortunately, quick action by EPIC and other citizens resulted in the Council narrowly stopping the agreement from being approved that fateful night. And when the matter came back before the City Council in March, Calpine's world was not the same.
In January, Calpine launched a media and direct mail campaign to promote an "independent study" and claim the land agreement was necessary for one to go forward. But grassroots organizing exposed the truth behind these fabrications; when citizens appeared on March 16, it was obvious the community would not be fooled. Over 70 people spoke before the Council voted to adjourn for the night - 72% expressing a great desire to stop pursuing the plan entirely.
EPIC worked on this issue from the beginning, and though we breathed a big sigh of relief when Calpine packed its bags, our work continues on. EPIC believes LNG is unsafe and unsustainable for any community, and that we should direct our resources towards finding long-term solutions for our energy needs. To this end, EPIC is sharing information we've accumulated with other communities where LNG proposals are looming, has joined a statewide coalition on these issues, and is also meeting with state and national organizations to form a larger strategy.
