Fossil Fuel Charlie for Mayor 2016

• Spotted near Portland State University

Portland Mayor Charlie Hales isn’t getting much slack from fossil fuel opponents these days.

Between the (I’m just going to say it) unflattering likeness in the poster above—spotted near Portland State University—and last week’s entertaining and disruptive Earth Day demonstration during council’s regular hearing, you could say opponents of a proposed North Portland propane storage and export facility are getting serious with attempts to tie Hales’ upcoming reelection campaign to his potential commitment to keeping fossil fuels out of Portland.

And they weren’t done after last week. Yesterday, this photo of Hales getting photobombed by a protestor holding an anti-propane sign showed up on the Facebook page of local activist group, Portland Rising Tide:

• Mayyyyyybe just a little bit closer next time.

Those trying to block Canada-based Pembina Pipeline Corporation’s $500 million project—which would require a zoning change to allow construction of a pipeline across protected wildlife habitat on the banks of the Columbia River—say allowing the fossil fuel facility in Portland would fly against the proposed 2015 Climate Action Plan.

City Council is stalling. The commissioners were tentatively set to vote on whether or not to approve the required zoning change at the end of April, but last week project planner Tom Armstrong with the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability sent an email to several involved parties saying “there has been a delay to allow for time to negotiate a detailed intergovernmental agreement with the Port (of Portland).” The new schedule calls for a June 4 public hearing and first reading of a proposed ordinance.