Gov. Christie’s Silence on Off Shore LNG Project Is More Evidence of National Political Ambition

Christie will not buck his party on an important energy issue

Yet another example of how Christie’s national political ambition harms the interests of NJ residents

The public comment period just closed on the proposed off shore Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) project known as “Liberty Natural Gas”.

The Asbury Park Press editorial “Scuttle Plans for LNG Port” framed the issue exactly right:

A company pitching a liquefied natural gas terminal off the New Jersey coast didn’t get very far a couple of years ago, when Gov. Chris Christie vetoed the plan. An amended proposal moving the project more toward the New York coast didn’t get a much better review from Christie; then-Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa told federal officials in March 2012 that Christie remained opposed.

Now Liberty Natural Gas has come back with a “new” proposal scarcely different from the amended version, but Christie hasn’t yet pulled the plug. Public hearings have been held, and a public comment period ended Thursday.

State Sen. Jennifer Beck, R-Monmouth, introduced a bill on Tuesday urging rejection of the project. We don’t know what Christie is waiting for, but we urge him to state his opposition to it as soon as possible. It is still as bad an idea for New Jersey as it has been all along.

We think we know exactly why the Gov. has not “pulled the plug”.

Here’s why (hit link for full story)

GOP urges swift action from Energy Department on natural gas exports

 

Republicans say faster action is needed from the Obama administration to prevent the United States from squandering a golden opportunity to become a major exporter of natural gas.

They cheered the Energy Department’s decision on Wednesday to approve a third liquefied natural gas export project but noted that there are nearly 20 other applications still pending before the administration.

“This announcement is welcome news but we need faster approvals to support domestic job creation and economic growth and to ensure we don’t miss our window of opportunity. The rest of the world won’t stand idly by as we continue to debate what DOE’s own study already confirmed would be a net positive for the U.S.,” a Republican House Energy and Commerce Committee spokeswoman told The Hill in an email.

Just like the Congressional Republicans, Governor Christie supports all forms of extreme energy and insane fossil fuels (with the exception of building new coal plants in NJ, a meaningless stance by Christie used to secure the support of his environmental sycophants. A new coal plant is not economically viable and something the private sector would never do because of cheap natural gas prices).

Just like the Congressional Republicans, Governor Christie is in thrall to the money and influence of the energy corporations, and enthusiastically does their corporate bidding instead of protecting the public interest.

Just like the Congressional Republicans, Governor Christie views environmental regulations as “job killing red tape”.

These are all facts abundantly documented in the public record.

I am not trying to be partisan here in my focus on the Republican party – the majority of the corporate Democrats are almost as bad.

The reason I mention only republicans is obvious: Christie will not buck his party on this important energy issue because he is now running for President in 2016 (and he needs campaign contributions from billion $ energy corporate profits).

And that’s why he won’t “pull the plug” by exercising his veto over this insane project.

This is yet another example of how Christie’s national political ambition harms the interests of NJ residents.

But don’t expect to hear this messsage from Christie’s envrionmental sycophants, like COA.

Curiously, COA’s Op-Ed on Liberty LNG not only diverts attention, but it actively misleads the public by conflating Christie’s prior veto of a simialr prior  proposal with the current proposal on which he is silent. Note the dishonest way this issue was addressed in COA’s Op-Ed:

These hazards and more were identified by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie when he vetoed this project in 2011 and reaffirmed his veto in 2012.

The APP made the distinction between the prior and current projects quite clear in noting the Gov. silence and failure to “pull the plug”.

So it’s pretty amazing when a newspaper editorial is more aggressive in holding the Governor accountable and seeking his veto than the so called “lead environmental group” opposing the project.

Make my day – prove me wrong Gov. Christie and COA. I’ll gladly eat crow.