Cuomo blocks Port Ambrose LNG terminal

 

After approximately three years of petitions, phone calls, rallies, and hearings, Gov. Cuomo took center stage in Long Beach on November 12, when he rejected the proposed Port Ambrose liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal.

Had this offshore terminal been built it would have been sited near the shipping lanes of New York harbor. It would have interfered with proposals for a wind farm project. Recently, the director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management stated that New York offshore wind projects are a top priority for the Obama Administration.

The terminal’s purpose was to import LNG through a series of pipelines that would have been submerged in the waters off the coast of Long Beach. Since the Southern Tier of the state is potentially rich in natural gas, it was feared that high-volume fracking would feed this facility, ostensibly an import terminal, and transform it into an export hub that would encourage fracking and possibly turn much of the Southern Tier into a natural gas field.

The governor’s veto of the Port Ambrose project means that the state will not be exposed to new sources of fugitive gas escaping into the air. LNG is not only highly flammable; it is a source of potent greenhouse gases in the form of methane.

Residents were also concerned that in cases of severe storms, such as Super Storm Sandy, the terminal was at risk of being damaged. It also could have been a target for terrorism. Economically, it would have only added six permanent jobs for New York, but a wind project in the area could offer many more jobs permanently.

Governor Cuomo’s rejection follows a series of actions taken to protect New York’s environment and lessen its dependence on fossil fuels, including a fracking ban, a commitment to achieve a 40% carbon emission reduction statewide by 2030 and 80% by 2050, and a pledge to source 50% of New York’s energy from renewables by 2030.

“We applaud Governor Cuomo’s decision to put the health of families in New York and the region before the demands of big polluters,” said Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune. “Permitting the construction of natural gas infrastructure would only further the devastating effects natural gas has had on our climate.”