Hearings about LNG Projects in NJ - Wed 1/9 and Thurs 1/10

Public hearings are scheduled to gather public comments on the Liberty Natural Gas LNG project. Liberty Natural Gas is a project proposed to import foreign LNG off the coast of Asbury Park. The gas will come onshore via a pipeline through the Raritan Bay into Perth Amboy, Woodbridge, and Carteret to the main gas hub in Linden.

This project will industrialize the ocean, allowing a dirty and expensive foreign fossil fuel to be brought to our shore, putting us at risk.

Please Come to the Hearings and Be Heard! 

Wednesday, February 9th
Long Branch Middle School, 350 Indiana Ave
Long Branch, NJ 07740, (732)-229-5533

 

and

Thursday, February 10th
NJ Convention & Exposition Center, 97 Sunfield Ave
Edison, NJ 08837, (732)-417-1400

All meetings will have an open house with informational displays from 5-6pm and a comment period will begin at 6:30pm and last until all comments have been heard.

Although the meetings will begin at 6:30pm you should plan to get there by 5:30 in order to get a seat. There is an open house with informational displays from 5 to 6pm. Clean Ocean Action and their coalition partners will be having a press conference and rally before the hearings in Long Branch and Edison.

This is your chance to speak out for the ocean and oppose this harmful energy plan. Liquid natural gas (LNG) threatens our environment, our wallets, our safety, our energy security, and our way of life.

 

Please RSVP for the meetings!

Details About Liberty Natural Gas Project:

• 4 underwater snake-like turrets that will scour and damage up to 76 acres of seafloor habitat,

• LNG Tankers up to 4 football fields long,

• Located at the gateway to the Port of NY/NJ- raising serious threats,

• Sources of LNG include Libya, Tunisia, Trinidad & Tobago,

• Three-foot wide industrial pipeline coming onland through one of the most densely populated areas in the region.

 

WHY LNG is NOT in Our Interest:
• LNG is up to twice the cost of domestic natural gas,

• LNG is up to 40% more polluting that domestic natural gas,

• LNG will shift us from energy independence (98% of natural gas currently used in the US is domestic) to energy dependence on foreign sources such as Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, and Libya,

• LNG is not needed - domestic sources are vast and can meet future energy demand,

• LNG Facilities will destroy essential fishing grounds.

More about LNG and the Gas Pipeline Proposed to run through NJ

Listen to NPR's Leonard Lopate: Underreported: Offshore LNG Terminals in NY and NJ
 

The Liberty LNG Port off NJ Coast Presents Significant Impacts

 

Groups want say on gas pipeline

 

Gov. Christie opposes proposed natural gas facility off Asbury Park

 

Download Clean Ocean Action Special Report - "LNG: An Un-American Energy Source, Liquefied Natural Gas: An Expensive, Dirty, Foreign Fossil Fuel that Threatens Our Natural Gas Energy Independence"

 

Find out more about Clean Ocean Action
 

Keep our ocean wild & industry free!

 

Hope you can come out for these important hearings...

What Do You Know About Clean Water?

Did you know that nearly 1 billion people lack access to clean water, which causes a litany of struggles, diseases and even death?

Here are some of the FACTS:

African women walk over 40 billion hours each year carrying cisterns weighing up to 18 kilograms to gather water, which is usually still not safe to drink.

Every week, nearly 38,000 children under the age of 5 die from unsafe drinking water and unhygienic living conditions.

In July, to address the water crisis, the United Nations declared access to clean water and sanitation a human right over. But we are far from implementing solutions to secure basic access to safe drinking water.

The US, Mexico and China lead the world in bottled water consumption, with people in the US drinking an average of 200 bottles of water per person each year. Over 17 million barrels of oil are needed to manufacture those water bottles, 86 percent of which will never be recycled.

What are the SOLUTIONS?

Building Wells: Organizations like Water.org and charity: water are leading the charge in bringing fresh water to communities in the developing world.

Conservation Starts at Home: The average person uses 465 liters of water per day. Find out how much you use and challenge your readers to do that same.

Keeping Rivers Clean: We can all take small steps to help keep pollution out of our rivers and streams, like correctly disposing of household wastes.

Drop the Bottle: Communities around the world are taking steps to reduce water bottle waste by eliminating bottled water.

Blog Action Day 2010: Water from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

Consider contributing directly to clean water projects abroad. Our partners charity: water and Water.org are both working to bring clean water to communities around the world. A donation of as little as $25 to Water.org can give one person clean water for life.

Let's work together to make sure every human being on the planet has access to clean water.

Say YES To Clean Energy

This short video was developed to emphasize the need for clean and renewable energy and was produced by Voices of Hope Productions for Clean Ocean Action. New Jersey residents, nonprofit organizations including the Alaska Wilderness League, Edison Wetlands Association, Environment New Jersey, Sierra Club, Surfrider Foundation and elected officials joined together to create the largest global gathering against offshore drilling as part of an international "Hands Across the Sand" day of action. However, as Asbury Park Mayor Ed Johnson stated "This event has to be more than a one day event, it has to be about each and every one of us going home to our lives and making a proactive change in our energy use and how we affect the environment. We are all at fault for the great destruction of the Gulf and we must be part of the solution."

ASBURY PARK: Citizens Join Hands Against Offshore Drilling

Yesterday, Saturday June 26th, NJ residents joined together to create the largest global gathering against offshore drilling. Citizens met at the Asbury Park Boardwalk and joined hands along the shoreline as part of an international Hands Across the Sand day of action.

"Today we join in unity and solidarity with the community of the Gulf of Mexico to express outrage against the perils and horror caused by our addiction to oil and to resolve to clean up our act. Hands Across the Sand is an unprecedented global call to action. The power is within our hands: we must convince President Obama to rescind his expansion of oil drilling. We must also declare a personal war against oil—conserve energy, drive less, swear off of single-uses renewable plastics, and rally others to do the same," stated Cindy Zipf, Executive Director of Clean Ocean Action.

"This event has to be more than a one day event, joining hands on the beach to protect the environment. It has to be about each and every one of us going home to our lives and making a proactive change in our energy use and how we affect the environment. We are all at fault for the great destruction of the Gulf and we must be part of the solution," said Ed Johnson, Mayor of Asbury Park.

"The Gulf disaster is proof-positive that what happens in the Gulf can happen here except the destruction would be infinitely worse because the survival of our entire Atlantic coast is tied to the health of our coastal waters. Economics and environment go hand in hand, and the disaster would dwarf any minimal economic benefits gained by these short-sided wells. Today, thousands of Americans are offering a helping hand not only to our oceans, but to Americans long-term economic security," said Edison Wetlands Association Executive Director Robert Spiegel.

"Instead of just being mad as hell, we have to channel our energy to protect our oceans and our beaches," said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. "We need to stop the drilling off our coasts and instead build a green energy economy."

The Hands Across the Sand events are aimed at steering America's energy policy away from its dependence on fossil fuels and towards clean energy. The goal is to convince leaders like President Obama to abandon offshore oil drilling and adopt policies that encourage clean energy instead.

For more information go to Clean Ocean Action, Sierra Club or SurfRider Foundation.

HANDS ACROSS THE SAND: JUNE 26

On June 26, New Jersey residents will join the largest nationwide gathering against offshore drilling ever held.

Hands Across the Sand is a movement made of people of all walks of life and crosses political affiliations. This movement is not about politics; it is about protection of our coastal economies, oceans, marine wildlife, and fishing industry. Let us share our knowledge, energies and passion for protecting all of the above from the devastating effects of oil drilling.

"On June 26th we will link hands for the future of America, for the environment and the economy," said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. "We can continue failed policies of the past that have risk our coasts and our economy, or we can protect our coasts, tourism, and our economic future."

“As summer rolls into the Shore, we can’t forget that oil companies – even in light of the disaster in the Gulf – are still angling to drill off the Atlantic Coast,” said Doug O’Malley, field director for Environment New Jersey. “Across the state, the public is going to tell the President hands off our beaches and urge him to ban new off-shore drilling.”

Now is the time for America and our leaders to join hands and steer our country’s energy policy away from our dependence on fossil fuels and into the light of clean energy and renewables.

Join hands tomorrow, Saturday, June 26th at 12:00 and draw a line in the sand against offshore oil drilling.

Where:

Asbury Park, Asbury Park Boardwalk

Meg Gardner

citizens@cleanoceanaction.org

732-872-0111

Please meet for this location on the Asbury Park Boardwalk across the street from the Stone Pony (913 Ocean Ave). Take the Garden State Parkway South to Exit 102. Bear right off the exit ramp onto Asbury Ave and continue heading east all the way to the ocean, following the signs to Asbury Park. *When you reach the ocean, bear left onto Ocean Ave. The Stone Pony will be on your left, two blocks up at the corner of Second and Ocean; walk across the street to the boardwalk. Garden State Parkway north to Exit 100A. Bear east on Route 66 and continue heading east all the way to the ocean, following the signs to Asbury Park.

For more information go to Facebook

RSVP on Facebook:

Seaside Heights

For more information go to Facebook

Other New Jersey Beaches Near You:

What You'll Do:

STEP 1

Go to the beach at 11 AM in your time zone for one hour, rain or shine.

STEP 2

Join hands for 15 minutes at 12:00 forming lines in the sand against oil drilling in our coastal waters.

STEP 3

Leave only your footprints.

Hands Across The Sand was founded by Floridian Dave Rauschkolb in October of 2009. Hands Across The Sand is endorsed by national environmental organizations including Sierra Club, Audubon, Clean Ocean Action, Environment New Jersey, Surfrider, Oceana, Greenpeace, Defenders of Wildlife, Alaska Wilderness League, Ocean Conservancy, Friends of the Earth, Environment America, 350, MoveOn.org, Center for Biological Diversity and CleanEnergy.org

BP RUN ADS "TO MAKE THIS RIGHT"

BP ran ads in New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and the Washington Post according to AdAge.com. Their tagline, "We will get it done. We will make this right" hardly provides a warm and fuzzy feeling about the worst U.S. environmental disaster in history. Everyone knows oil is still spewing from their pipeline and after over a month they have been unsuccessful at capping what seems like a never ending crude oil flow. Placing the new ad with the 2004 versions I posted last month add to the irony of their meaninglessness.

BP will most likely never recover from this catastrophe, which should have been prevented to begin with. Now it seems obvious that there aren't other oil companies that have a contingency plan for the problem either. If they did, they would come forward as a PR hero to fix the problem. It's quite discouraging that the public was told that oil rigs were safe because nothing had ever happened before. Beyond that, not having a plan for how to deal with a huge environmental blow like this is unconscionable. The best we have is a "unified command established to manage response operations" at Deepwater Horizon Response. Stay up-to-date on the latest news.

Live feeds from various remote vehicles (BP site)

Photos

US Coast Guard Photos

BEYOND OIL: BP's OLD AD CAMPAIGN REVISITED

In light of the catastrophe with British Petroleum's off shore drilling rig, and the terrible environmental issues that have been caused because of it I decided to search for an old campaign that BP ran in 2004. What stuck in my mind the most about those ads is how much BP professed to be so environmentally responsible. The print ad campaign was created by NY ad agency Ogilvy & Mather. It's just too ironic, and certainly worth remembering. I hope beyond darkness that there's light—responsibility too.

Here's the text from the "Beyond Oil" commercial:

Beyond darkness there is light.

Beyond a thorn there is a rose.

Beyond practice there is perfection.

Beyond fear; courage.

Beyond 10 seconds; nine.

Beyond danger; a thrill.

Beyond power; responsibility.

Beyond patience; Fulfillment.

Beyond crisis; a solution.

Disease; a cure.

Beyond pain; joy.

Effort; reward.

Beyond winter; summer.

Beyond darkness there is light.

Beyond petroleum; BP.

For BP, I think it's certainly time for them to think outside the barrel—and hurry it up.