Community Partners: Don and Alona Steinke

Creating the Blueprint That Defeated Big Oil

"The way to win is visible public opposition."

By Laura O. Foster

Don and Alona Steinke of Brush Prairie, WA, were two of Friends of the Columbia Gorge's most tenacious fighters in the five-year battle that ended in this year’s victory against Tesoro-Savage’s oil terminal proposed for the Columbia River waterfront in Vancouver, WA. Their work with Friends came about because of a single, ordinary action: an invitation from a friend to a Gorge on Tap community event in 2012. 
 
Already working against coal terminals in the Pacific Northwest, the Steinkes became Friends members that night. They liked what they learned, as Friends and partners outlined their fight against carbon-based energy terminals via a regulatory approach: using existing laws and regulations, and focusing on elections to protect communities. The Steinkes had become disillusioned with the community rights approach, which works to write paradigm-shifting laws to ban harmful corporate activities.
 
As shown in this year’s victories, Friends’ approach gets results. Don says, “In each state, we ask, ‘Who is it that can say no?’” Whether it’s Washington’s Commissioner of Public Lands or Oregon’s governor, Friends and our allies tailor arguments to applicable laws and regulations that are overlooked or ignored by corporate interests.
 
For a single citizen, fighting for the health of one’s community is daunting. Alona says, “As individuals we feel helpless because corporations have all the money. But we are a vast army and have defeated so many projects. People have the power. They have the money, but we have the people.”
 
Friends Conservation Director Michael Lang agrees. "Friends has worked over the past decade to build on our traditional grassroots advocacy roots, complemented by protecting the Gorge through the courts and engaging policymakers at the highest levels. And by working with regional partners to stop the irresponsible transport of coal and oil through the Gorge, we've been able to achieve truly remarkable results."
 
In 2013, when Tesoro announced its plans for the Vancouver terminal, the Port of Vancouver was its ally, and Tesoro calculated it would be able to overcome regulatory or administrative hurdles. Don says, “At first I thought, I don’t want to get involved. Americans love their oil. Also, Tesoro said the oil wasn’t going to be exported so there was the argument for job creation and low prices at the pump. This one was too hard to fight.”
 
But soon after, in July 2013, the oil train disaster in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec killed 47 people and destroyed the town center. It was carrying Bakken crude, the same oil Tesoro proposed to ship through the Gorge. At a Vancouver memorial for the victims, Don says, “I showed up and was hooked.”
 
When Friends and other groups launched Stand Up to Oil in May 2015, Don and Alona became part of its core of activists. In his work with Friends and other partners, Don says, “I learned how public support is generated. It doesn’t happen by accident.”

Laura O. Foster has written eight guidebooks about Portland and the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Her work has been featured on Oregon Field Guide, Oregon Art Beat, and AM Northwest, and in Portland Monthly, Willamette Week, the Portland Tribune, and The Oregonian. She has been an Oregonian since 1989.
 
Photos in text: Don Steinke addresses rally in Vancouver, WA against the Tesoro oil terminal, July 2017. (Photo: Ryan Rittenhouse); Alona Steinke gives testimony at a public hearing in Vancouver on a key permit for the proposed oil terminal, June 2017. (Photo: Stand Up to Oil) 

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