And here we sit on loads of Natural Gas, but the oil companies won't build a gas line to the lower 48. The Oil Companies have been sitting on it for over 30 years.
Got this off Netscape:
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: LNG a vital 'bridge' fuel
By Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
February 4, 2007
I am writing in support of Ventura Coastkeeper Mati Waiya's courageous consideration of offshore liquefied natural gas facilities near Ventura County.
Mati's position recognizes the inescapable reality that America needs abundant energy if we are to give dignified, prosperous communities to our children.
Yet, energy production is the No. 1 cause of pollution, war and global instability.
In the United States, coal and oil extraction is plowing down entire mountain ranges, burying thousands of miles of rivers and streams and polluting our waterways, wetlands and aquifers.
Burning these fuels is heating our planet, poisoning our fish with mercury, and our lakes and forests with acid rain, and sickening our citizens with ozone and particulate pollution that kills 18,000 Americans each year and causes millions of asthma attacks and lost workdays.
Similarly, the hidden costs of nuclear energy make it the most catastrophically expensive fuel source ever conceived. Today, energy production is never "clean" and, as we transition to sustainable fuels, we have to look at all suitable alternatives in reducing impacts.
Natural gas is an important "bridge" fuel that can provide cleaner energy while our nation transitions to renewables like solar, wind, ethanol and hydrogen power.
Since Canadian and U.S. natural gas supplies are flat, we will need to import liquefied natural gas to meet growing demand.
No energy project is perfect, and LNG only makes sense if accompanied by the appropriate public and environmental safety protections.
Like most fuels, there is an explosive risk with LNG, but it is small compared with ships that carry gasoline and other petroleum products into American ports by the thousands each day. An LNG facility, if properly sited and constructed, can impose a relatively tiny ecological footprint and poses far less public health risks than grave injuries endured by workers and residents in coal communities or the many public health threats from burning dirtier fossil fuels.
LNG is certainly not a silver bullet, but as a transitional fuel, it can pave the way for greener sources of energy while replacing oil, nuclear and coal in the short term.
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is an environmental lawyer and professor at Pace University Law School in Westchester County, near New York City.
