Local community members, working alongside RE Sources and Stand.earth, convinced leaders in the Whatcom County government to enact a temporary moratorium on unrefined fossil fuel infrastructure in 2016.
Whatcom County Council continued extending the moratorium until July of 2021, when the final amendment was unanimously passed and Whatcom County became the first place in the US to use land-use code amendments to permanently prohibit new refineries, fossil fuel transshipment facilities, new piers, and wharfs or coal facilities
This game-changing law safeguards the health of the local community from harm caused by fossil fuel expansion projects while also protecting industry workers, the climate, and the economy – and we’re working to make it a blueprint for other communities across the country (and the globe!).
