There. Did it myself. :-)
Posted on 05/03/2005 2:59:40 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
MEXICO CITY (AP) - Environmentalists filed a challenge with the NAFTA Commission for Environmental Cooperation on Tuesday against a U.S. liquefied natural gas import terminal planned off Mexico's Pacific coast, within sight of San Diego.
Greenpeace Mexico and six other U.S. and Mexican organizations accused Mexico of failing to fully evaluate the possible impact of the plant near Baja California's Coronado Island on an endangered seabird known as Xantus' murrelet.
"The Commission for Environmental Cooperation should consider this complaint, because this is a species of bird that migrates and involves all three (NAFTA) countries," Arturo Moreno of Greenpeace Mexico told reporters in Mexico City.
Isla Coronado is home to the largest known colony of the small black-and-white seabird, and Moreno said it could be harmed by the lights, activity and chlorinated water discharges at a plant located just 600 yards from the island's shore, which is 8 miles off the coast of Tijuana, and just south of the international border.
The bird's population is estimated to be less than 10,000, with more than half of that nesting at Isla Coronado.
The other groups filing the complaint include the American Bird Conservancy, the Los Angeles Audubon Society and the Pacific Environment and Resource Center.
The environmental commission, based in Montreal, Canada, was created under the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement between Mexico, the United States and Canada.
While the commission has the power to carry out an investigation of whether member countries have failed to enforce their environmental rules, it cannot make recommendations or order them to comply.
Moreno claims oil companies are treating Baja California as their "backyard," with gas plants and electrical power plants located in Mexico that mainly serve the California market.
U.S. energy giant ChevronTexaco Corp. already has the main federal approvals necessary for the proposed terminal at the uninhabited Isla Coronado.
Greenpeace says Mexico's Environment Department failed to gather sufficient scientific information about impacts on the birds and failed to properly catalog plants and wildlife at the islands.
Liquefied natural gas is transported by being cooled and condensed into a liquid form. It is "regasified" at receiving terminals, where it is pumped from ships and stored until it can be converted back into a gaseous form and delivered via pipeline to customers.
That regasification process leaves residual chlorine, which can kill off marine life.
San Diego-based Sempra Energy also is planning a liquefied plant off the Baja California coast about 14 miles north of Ensenada, and already has awarded construction contracts.
It sounds so wholesome, huh?
This demands the "Aw, geez, not this sh*t again!" picture.
Anybody have that picture, by the way?
What don't the 'Environmentalists' challenge?
Perhaps sandals made from old auto tires.
There. Did it myself. :-)
Baja is nine hundred miles long. I don't think building an industrial complex in Rosarita is going to be the end of the world.
The only reason this stuff is being built in Baja is that you can't build it in California. And, think about it, if you had the choice, why would you build anything in California? Its not that far to Nevada, Arizona, and yes, Mexico.
Thanks to the magic of broadband, its not that far to China and India, either.
Anybody but me tired of this environwacko BS?
"Anybody but me tired of this environwacko BS?"
You'll be happy to hear that this time the enviros screwed up. NAFTA? NAFTA tribunals knock down BS environmental regulations because they impede free trade. Can't wait to see this one go down in flames too.
"Environmentalists" would NOT be satisfied if 2 Billion people dropped off of the face of the earth.
They oppose ALL energy options!
Including wind mills, as exampled by the Kennedy, Kerry "Not at my vacation spot" situation. And the, "Hey, the blades kill birds" crowd.
Including solar, if there is ever an attempt to cover the amount of real estate necessary to provide any meaningful amount of energy.
I can't either. But I won't be holding my breath.
It may be years before we win this one. The environwackos will fight us every inch of the way.
"It may be years before we win this one. The environwackos will fight us every inch of the way."
I've worked on NAFTA litigation. NAFTA arbitration is highly unfriendly to envirowackos. i'm hoping for a pleasant suprise.
Actually, the number is between 5.5 and 5.9 billion.
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