Your Chance, Your Voice, On a Liquefied Gas Facility Off New York

The hearing is tonight, Wednesday. And there are other ways to comment.

The proposal is to create a liquefied natural gas facility 20 miles south of Jones Beach. It would be called "Port Ambrose." Ships would bring super-chilled liquefied natural gas, which would be piped to shore. I use natural gas for heating and cooking. I also oppose this facility. That doesn't make me a hypocrite; it makes me someone with a conscience who wants alternatives to fossil fuels rather than more excuses for more fossil fuels.

Do we really want to allow gas pipes all over the seafloor, locking us into more use of a dangerous fossil fuel and interfering with planning to develop wind turbines in the same region? I don't. Neither does the NY Daily News, who came out against this plan.

We're talking about trenching the seafloor to lay miles and miles and miles of pipes, so they can transport dangerous gas. We're talking about noise in the migration routes of whales and turtles and millions of migratory fish. If you're thinking this could be a good place for fishing, think again; it's potential as a terrorist target would likely mean unauthorized boats would not be allowed near.

More gas? Or will we hold out for something cleaner? The public hearing is
Wednesday, January 7, 2015, 6:00 p.m., at the JFK Hilton, 144-02 135th Ave, Jamaica, Queens.

Whether you're pro or con, call Governors Cuomo: (518) 474-8390 and Christie: (609) 292-6000. I hope you tell them you'd like wind instead of more hot air from gas. The governors have credibility on this issue. Governor Cuomo recently extended a ban on gas "fracking" in New York State because of the mess it's creating in neighboring states. Governor Christie, three years ago, vetoed a proposal for the exact same liquefied gas facility that's now being proposed, when it was proposed to be sited closer to the New Jersey coast.