Councilmember Andy Stern tells us that, “We are pleased to welcome more than 15 million people each year, which is a record unmatched anywhere in the world.” Malibu is our home and I’m sure that most of us don’t share that sentiment. It’s not hard to understand why it’s unmatched. Is this a PR stunt by the councilmember to appease the Coastal Commission? The only people that would welcome 15 million visitors are the merchants, many of whom don’t even live in Malibu.
The councilmember also tells us that one of his greatest moments in office was fighting the BHP Billiton liquid natural gas port. The LNG storage tanker was to be moored 14 miles offshore. It’s odd that we pay to have natural gas piped into our homes for heating and cooking but fear a LNG tanker 14 miles out. LNG is not oil as some people think. It’s cryogenically liquefied natural gas, which makes the gas compact for shipping.
If an undersea LNG leak should occur it would vaporize, bubble to the surface and, being lighter than air, would harmlessly float away into the atmosphere.
So why fight LNG? It’s the gas we use everyday. It’s like fighting water flow into our reservoirs or beer into our mugs.
Jack Singleton