News
COA Opposes Corzine On LNG
By Ryan Fennell
ASBURY PARK - Over thirty organizations have joined together in opposition of Governor Jon S. Corzine's support for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facilities off the coast of New Jersey in his recently released Energy Master Plan.
Representatives from several of those organizations were on hand to express their opposition at the Langosta Lounge in Asbury Park including Clean Ocean Action (COA) Executive Director Cynthia Zipf.
"Governor Corzine's support of LNG in our ocean makes it clear that he is willing to consider foreign energy profits ahead of the Jersey Shore," Zipf said. "The Jersey Shore is not only our greatest natural asset, it is the economic engine that is the backbone of the state's economy. LNG will industrialize the ocean, destroy marine habitat and threaten our way of life. This is a platform that is not for the people of New Jersey, but for foreign energy profiteers."
According to COA Water Policy Attorney David Byer, Corzine's Energy Master Plan has three main goals; ensure a reliable supply of energy, at a reasonable price, in an environmentally responsible manner.
"Corzine's support for LNG does none of the above," Byer said. "Indeed, Corzine's plan admits that LNG 'is a key uncertainty' and cites the federal government's views that LNG supplies may 'vary considerably from year to year.' All three proposed LNG terminals will devastate our environment just to put us on the same foreign fossil fuel roller coaster we've seen with oil."
The three terminals Byer referred to are proposed by three separate companies and are very different in the nature of their designs.
One proposal from a private investment group, Atlantic Sea Island Group, calls for an 80-acre man-made island to house a LNG storage facility 19 miles off the coast of Sea Bright. The second proposal comes from ExxonMobil and is an experimental floating barge that would be anchored to the sea floor 20 miles off Manasquan. According to COA the Governors of California, New York, and Connecticut have all rejected this proposal.
"If California, New York and Connecticut have all rejected this proposal, why is it viable for us?" asked Tyler Thompson from Paddleout. org. "We don't need it, we don't want it, and the ocean isn't for sale, and shouldn't be industrialized. People have to wake up and do their part."
The third proposal comes from a conglomerate of Canadian Superior Energy and Global LNG Inc. known as Excalibur Energy. This proposal consists of a four turret-buoy system that LNG tankers would link up to, convert the LNG back into its gaseous form on board the ship, and pump it through 50 miles of pipeline into Perth Amboy on its way to Linden, New Jersey. This site is proposed to be built 16 miles off the coast of Asbury.
"They may all be different but they all have a common agenda which is to bring a foreign natural gas, foreign energy, to the shore that is more polluting, destructive to our marine resources, something we don't need, and will cost more money," Zipf said.
Byer quoted Corzine's Energy Master Plan and one of its goals in particular that deals with developing a 21st Century energy infrastructure.
"How is foreign fossil fuels 21st century," Byer asked. "This (plan) is contradictory to the goal itself."
The proposed sites would also have a major impact on the recreational and commercial fishing industries according to COA.
The proposed facilities would be located along the edge of the "Mudhole" a prime fishing location for both commercial and recreational fishermen. The sites along with the LNG tankers come with very large exclusion zones limiting fishermen access to various locations.
Zipf also noted that once a LNG tanker empties its cargo into one of the facilities it then needs to use seawater as ballast, which would amount to billions of gallons of seawater per year causing an extreme habitat loss. The seawater ballast would inevitably contain sea life and larvae that would disrupt the marine habitats.
COA has launched a campaign to educate the public on the issue of LNG facilities and urging citizens to pressure the Governor and elected officials to oppose these facilities.
The groups have unveiled a 60-second radio advertisement urging citizens to call the Governor to say no to LNG ports.
"It's time for citizens to hear the truth about LNG," said Kari Martin, COA Policy Communications Director. "We urge citizens to join us by telling Governor Corzine to 'Keep Us Free From LNG.' We want to create a groundswell of citizen opposition that no governor can say no to."
COA and the over thirty organizations have drafted a letter to be sent to Governor Corzine urging him to rescind his support of LNG. In the letter the groups claim that supporting LNG will increase our carbon footprint, shift New Jersey toward a foreign energy dependency, increase energy costs, and significantly damage marine ecosystems and threaten coastal economies.
"Indeed your Energy Master Plan demonstrates no significant overall increase in natural gas demand that merits or warrants these facilities," the letter states.
"Unfortunately, your support of LNG for the state is antithetical to a green energy vision and will open the door for adding to the state's long-continued reliance on fossil fuels when energy efficiency and renewable technologies are available today."
