"Cove Point, Maryland: In an effort to challenge
what they call the next threat to America’s energy independence, environmental
health, and family economics, a coalition of environmental organizations has
filed comments with the U.S. Department of Energy challenging a proposal that
would allow the Dominion Cove Point LNG facility to export natural gas to non-Free
Trade Agreement countries, many in Asia and the Middle East.
“LNG facilities like the one proposed for Cove
Point are intended to ship natural gas extracted in this country off to foreign
lands. The result is that gas drillers can ship American gas overseas in order
to make more money, but this increases the price of natural gas for us, and our
communities and environment get ravaged by the shale gas “gold rush”, including
thousands of miles of new pipelines through the Susquehanna Watershed. It may
be a win for the gas drillers but it throws the idea of American energy
independence out the window,” said Michael Helfrich, Lower Susquehanna
Riverkeeper.
“We filed these comments because the law which
oversees such projects puts citizens at a big disadvantage when it comes to LNG
facilities” explains Guy Alsentzer, Staff Attorney for the Lower Susquehanna
Riverkeeper. “The law asserts that Americans will benefit from LNG exports
unless they can prove otherwise; this puts the burden of proof on average every
day Americans, and relieves the big gas corporations from demonstrating that
they will not harm U.S. citizens in their pursuit of profits. Unfortunately,
one need only look at the thousands of violations across Pennsylvania that the
PA Department of Environment has found at gas drilling sites to know that the
drillers and shippers are not worthy of that presumption,” asserted Alsentzer.
“Gas drilling is devastating
the communities where it is happening; the claim of environmentally friendly
fracking and shale gas drilling is just another expensive messaging campaign”
says Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper. “People are losing their
drinking water, their clean air, their health, and the beautiful landscapes
they call home. The assertion of cheap gas and energy independence touted by
the drillers is, like the claims they make for gas drilling, clearly just
another marketing campaign. We know that because they are investing tremendous
sums of money and political capital in building and expanding LNG facilities in
order to ship American extracted gas overseas. Americans are suffering all of
the pollution and harm from gas drilling while foreign countries get to use the
gas and drillers get to reap the profits. It’s a lose-lose for Americans”
concludes van Rossum.
More at DELAWARE RIVERKEEPER
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