Voters in Clark County, by a two-to-one margin, on Tuesday dealt a blow to Big Oil, electing a Port of Vancouver commissioner who opposes location of North America’s largest oil-by-rail terminal along the Columbia River.

Terminal foe Don Orange was taking more than 64 percent of the vote against opponent Kris Greene, whose campaign was backed by $350,000 in donations from oil companies and oil- and railroad-connected political action committees.

In a slugfest campaign over what’s normally a low-profile post, the Washington Conservation Voters spent $290,000 to boost Orange’s campaign.

The proposed terminal, spearheaded by Tesoro, would receive 380,000 barrels of oil a day, along the Columbia River, from oil trains more than a mile long that would wind down the river through the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.

The oil would then be barged down the Columbia River and shipped to refineries along the Pacific Coast.

“This win shows communities across the country that when we stand together, we are stronger than Big Oil’s money,” said Shannon Murphy, president of Washington Conservation Voters.

Particularly when you can match Big Oil’s money.

Environmental groups and resource developers faced off at the other end of the state on Tuesday in races for four of the seven Whatcom County Council seats.
The council is writing plans that could preclude future oil and coal export development at Cherry Point north of Bellingham.

Two pro-green council members, Rud Browne and Todd Donovan, were winning in a landslide. A third, Barry Buchanan, was narrowly ahead of his challenger.
Buchanan had 51.14 percent of the vote for the Council’s at large seat, after realtors spent $100,000 to support his opponen.

In a fourth race, where pro-development interests spent heavily, environmentalist-backed Rebecca Boonstra trailed narrowly.

Whatcom County voters also turned thumbs-down on building a new jail.