Voters in Coos county rejected a proposal blocking a natural gas terminal intended to liquefy natural gas to make it transportable aboard tanker ships for sale abroad. The $7.6 billion dollar project by Calgary-based Veresen Inc was opposed by environmental activists who asserted the project would contribute to global warming. The proposal was overwhelmingly rejected by Coos county residents with 76% of voter casting ballots against the measure to block the new terminal.

The project received national attention in April when Gary Cohn, head of the National Energy Council, singled the Veresen project out as being a priority for the Trump administration. The voter rejection of the proposal is a major defeat in a regional resistance movement aiming to halt fossil fuel projects in the Northwest. The movement has seen success so far by blocking the creation of several major export facilities.

Last year the Lummi Nation, a Native American tribe, along with several environmental groups blocked an export terminal in Northwest Washington state. The purpose of the terminal was to enable the export of coal mined from Washington and Montana to Asian markets. This was followed by another victory for the environmentalist movement when in January of 2017 voters in Washington State denied a permit for a coal export terminal. The proposed terminal was to have been located in the city of Longview which rejected the proposal due to concerns about the financial viability of the project.

If the measure had passed it would have been a blow for energy projects across the region and could have hampered further development of energy projects in the region. In contrast, in the Gulf Coast where energy exports are seen as a vital part of the economy continues to allow investment in infrastructure. A port was opened last year in Louisiana by Cheniere Energy Inc and several other project are set to begin in the next two years.