Let me see if I’ve got this straight: Australian mega mining company BHP Billiton wants to anchor an enormous LNG processing ship offshore near the Channel Islands and Pt. Mugu and allow a constant stream of mega tankers to offload what is described as highly flammable and extremely dangerous. It’s already clear that this proposal is guaranteed to create a host of environmental problems. Health risks from pollution, massive water temperature changes, eco-system threats from invasive “stowaway” species! The list of negatives is as long as your arm. And right next door to the recently created Channel Islands Marine Reserve. Sounds crazy and is crazy.
What has not been emphasized enough is the obvious potential for terrorist attack. And what has not been mentioned at all is the proximity to the strategic Pt. Mugu military installation. Several years ago a Soviet commercial fishing company attempted to acquire a permit to anchor off our coast, purchase fish from local boats, package, and ship via tanker back to Russia. The environmental impact was ignored but the permit application was revoked, in the interest of national security, because of the proximity to the military facility at Pt. Mugu.
Now, after 9/11, “Homeland Security” seems the current administration’s greatest concern. Yet contrary as it may seem, Bush, Cheney, and his gang of petro-pirates unanimously endorse this proposal despite continued outcry that this LNG facility is, by far, the biggest and most potentially destructive terrorist target to Southern California. (With that well know bit of info, what self-respecting jihad nut case would pass up an opportunity to incinerate us infidels all to hell?) Endangering our citizens, our environment, and our military for a foreign energy product that isn’t even necessary is morally unconscionable. In fact anyone who would endorse this horribly dangerous proposal should be charged with treason.
Scott Winner