News about LNG terminals is what somebody wants to suppress

PasadenaPundit ^ | May 7, 2005 | Wayne Lusvardi

[WayneLusvardi]

News about LNG terminals is what somebody wants to suppress

Written by The Pasadena Pundit

News is "what somebody, somewhere wants to suppress. All the rest is advertising." -- Lord Northcliffe, former owner Times of London

The content of California's weekly alternative "throwaway" newspapers couldn't be better described than as "what somebody, somewhere wants to suppress with the rest being advertising." This is no more true than with the May 6, 2005 story "Enron Forgotten - Congress may stick us with a natural-gas rip off" by writer William J. Kelly at the L.A. Daily Weekly at the following web link (http://www.laweekly.com/ink/05/24/news-kelly.php). The article suppresses so much information about Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals that it is difficult to unspin the journalistic spin.

Spin - Kelly quotes U.S. Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich) that "if you love Enron, you'll love" the newly passed energy policy legislation passed last month which allows the Federal government to override some California obstructions for siting of LNG terminals off the coast of California. Unspin - Since LNG terminals will compete against Enron's Transwestern Pipeline, how could it be that Enron would welcome competition from LNG terminals? The infamous name "Enron" is linked with "LNG" in the article only to demonize LNG in the mind of the reader.

Spin - LNG will stymie such technology as wind and solar. Unspin - Redundant conventional power plants are necessary to solar and wind energy farms because of the unpredictability of the weather. It would take 300 square miles of a wind farm to generate the same 1,000 megawatts as a conventional gas-fired power plant which takes up only about one-half square mile. Imagine one mile squares of wind farms lined up in a row extending from Los Angeles to San Francisco.

Spin - State energy regulators fear that LNG providers will gain an excessively large share of the energy market and exercise undue "market power" resulting in another 2001-style energy crisis unless regulators can impose "anti-hoarding" price regulations on them. Unspin - During the energy crisis of 2001, gas prices spiked not so much because of price gouging but because of the lack of cheap hydropower from the Pacific Northwest and the lack of additional capacity in inter-state gas pipelines. Anyone with a rudimentary background in economics should be able to realize that the more the supply of natural gas and the greater number of providers, such as LNG, the greater the likelihood of lower gas prices.

Spin - A report issued by the Energy Ventures Group is concerned that: (a) LNG importers will become "pivotal suppliers" similar to the power generators that caused the state's energy crisis; and (b) that LNG will add to the U.S. trade deficit. Unspin - Merchant energy companies did not "cause" the California electricity crisis of 2001; while the Los Angeles DWP and its contractor Reliant Energy were involved in a price ratcheting and arbitraging scheme of much greater proportions than Enron's puny 4% share of the California energy market. The crisis was caused by energy regulators who erected barriers from buying cheap electricity from out of state during the crisis and slapped on price controls and a "competitive transition" surcharge. The Energy Ventures Group concern about a trade deficit and price gouging is contradicted by a December 18, 2002 news release on their website "The Coming Natural Gas Crisis" which curiously predicts that there will be a shortage of natural gas for the next 5 to 7 years. (http://www.energyvg.com/articlenatgasCrisis121802.pdf).

Spin - The LA Weekly article states that Sempra Energy has already begun building an LNG terminal in Mexico this year and that the PUC wants to "protect Californian's safety and pocketbooks." Unspin - What writer Kelly omits is that if Sound Energy and BHP Billiton are not allowed to build competitive terminals in California, then Sempra will have a monopoly since it already curiously has been given the go-ahead to build a terminal. Why isn't Kelly equally worried about price gouging by Sempra?

Spin - LNG has been endorsed by the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District and Omnitrans (San Bernardino) as well as businesses and other public agencies. Unspin - No mention is made that Honda is coming out with a natural gas fueled car and that it is not only public transit agencies that would benefit from LNG, but consumers.

Spin - Kelly interviews an engineer from the Border Power Plant Working Group who claims that air quality benefits from natural gas powered vehicles will become "negligible" when newer diesel cars meet higher air quality standards. Unspin - No mention is made about the fleet of older diesel vehicles that do not meet newer air quality standards. The cited engineer's opinion about air quality is not credible because he may lose his job if LNG lowers natural gas prices. Spin - LNG has the power to "blow away" renewable power (wind, solar, etc.) as to price. Unspin - Incredibly, writer Kelly and a host of environmental organizations cited in the article are actually concerned about lower natural gas prices?! Maybe that is why California electricity costs 30% to 50% higher than nearby states?

Spin - Local community groups fear an accident at the Long Beach terminal. Unspin - Why aren't community groups fearful of existing land-based underground natural gas storage basins which are potentially more dangerous because they are proximate to residential districts, such as the So Cal Gas storage basin in Playa Del Rey?

Spin - A confidential report on LNG shipments in Boston Harbor warns about extensive costs for security, port shutdowns during LNG transit, and underwater scuba diver inspections. Unspin - The "confidential report" is apparently a blogger's unverified note at FreeRepublic.com (see http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1394961/posts). Conceivably, LNG could be downloaded to a buoy without having to enter the harbor. I will leave it up to the reader to answer the question why would anyone work so hard to suppress accurate information about LNG?

[RushCrush]

It's all bunnies & pancakes to me.

[FreedomFarmer]

"Makes you wonder, don't it?"

[lilylangtree]

Interesting.