Governor Should Go On Record With Veto
Clean Ocean Action, one of the leads of a coalition of environmental groups and politicians opposed to the liquid natural gas terminal (LNG) proposal, is moving forward and focusing on improving the water quality of the Navesink River and establishing a 20 mile zone that would prohibit industrialization of the ocean.
But its fight with LNG is not quite wrapped up. Gov. Chris Christie has yet to weigh in on the proposal despite having vetoed the proposal twice before in 2011 and 2012. This year, a spokesman said the governor would not be making public statements on the matter. Gov. Mario Cuomo did veto the proposal, which would have hovered close to New York Harbor and within 18 miles of Jones Beach, thereby essentially rendering the current proposal dead in the water.
Cindy Zipf, executive director of COA, is concerned with the governor’s failure to make a statement and rightly so since the U.S. Maritime Administration will not have the ability to formally reject Liberty Natural Gas’s proposal to build the terminal just 28 miles off Long Branch since the company withdrew the application. That opens the door for a return of a modified proposal in the future.
Liberty, said in its withdrawal letter, it will seek to “engage with the State of New York to keep Port Ambrose as a potential resource in New York’s energy portfolio.” That means its back to the drawing board and a similar proposal could be forthcoming, which will result in yet another long fought battle against what COA, the American Littoral Society, NY/NJ Baykeepers and the Sierra Club see as a serious environmental, security and economic threat.
So do Senator Jennifer Beck and Representative Frank Pallone. So, it’s time for the governor to take a stand on such an important proposal.
We don’t begrudge him his presidential aspirations, but we would like our governor to publically comment on such a controversial and important proposal, as he has done in the past. Since LNG could easily return for yet another round, it’s critical the governors of both New Jersey and New York stand together.
