Editorial

At first, it seemed like shades of the film "Indecent Proposal." You know, the movie where the suave industrialist offers a young couple a million bucks if he can sleep with the wife. The audience is left to ponder the question of whether one's principled vows can be bought off, even by the likes of Robert Redford -- and if so, at what price?

In the case of the Oregon Natural Desert Association and the Ruby Pipeline, the initial answers seemed to be: yes, and $20 million ought to do it.

El Paso Corp. plans to build the 680-mile natural gas project, called the Ruby Pipeline, from Opal, Wyo., through Nevada and on to Malin, Ore., much to the ire of landowners and environmental groups. ONDA initially opposed the Ruby project because the line would displace sage grouse and harm other wildlife.

That opposition dissipated, however, when Ruby pledged a pot of money to do habitat conservation work. Ruby offered more than $20 million to buy land, restore habitat and fund a grazing permit retirement program in cooperation with the Western Watersheds Project. ONDA's website in mid-July announced its new pact with Ruby, noting it as an opportunity to improve habitat in the area around the Hart Mountain and Sheldon national wildlife refuges.

"As a result, ONDA has decided not to oppose construction of the Ruby Pipeline," the group said in a press release.

Given ONDA's professed altruism in all things environmental and its comfort zone with litigation, the quid pro quo in this deal has raised some eyebrows. Oregon ranchers might appreciate it if ONDA began embracing more cooperative and less litigious methods to effect change, but a nagging question remains: Does it take an eight-digit offer to get to that stage?

ONDA points out that it won't receive the money -- the cash will go to a new and separate nonprofit ... which will be run by directors appointed by ONDA and the pipeline company.

Now if you're waiting for these new partners to stroll off into the sunset as the credits roll, guess again. The ONDA agreement was barely public when another environmental group, Center for Biological Diversity, filed suit challenging the pipeline. The center targets the pipeline plan for projected impacts on endangered fish and water supplies, as well as the inherent dangers of pipelines -- factors that ONDA seemingly was willing to overlook.

Checking the cast list, it should be noted that Center for Biological Diversity has long been a partner with ONDA in lawsuits challenging grazing in Eastern Oregon.

So perhaps this isn't a sequel to "Indecent Proposal" after all, but merely a new twist on "good cop, bad cop." ONDA gets what it wants, and its brothers in arms press on to battle against their common foe in the courts. What a plot twist.

Even in that scenario, it's hard to portray the well-heeled pipeline builders, who have millions of dollars to use to stifle their opposition, as innocent victims. Briefly seen as masters of checkbook persuasion, they do seem the sap at this point.

With a Western backdrop, big money and subplots galore, this unfolding drama has the makings of a summer blockbuster. Who knows? The big-screen version could be coming soon to a theater near you.