Here’s a surprise, a Prince George’s
County Circuit Court judge ruled that Richmond-based Dominion Resources can
export liquefied natural gas (LNG) from additional terminal facilities in Cove
Point, Maryland[1].
The Sierra Club filed suit against
Dominion Resources, arguing that the 2005 legal settlement regarding permitted
activities at the Cove Point location disallowed Dominion Resource’s plan to
export LNG.
The judge, however, saw the
settlement differently and ruled that Dominion Resources can export LNG by
pipeline from its Cove Point terminal to tankers stationed at an offshore pier.
The Sierra Club didn’t start off on a
good legal foundation from the beginning of this case. The club admitted that
exporting LNG would not cause environmental damage around Cove Point, arguing
instead that the exportation of LNG from Cove Point would encourage fracking in
surrounding states.[2]
Under the leadership of Sierra’s
executive director, Michael Brune, the club has campaigned against “fracking”[3]
due to its less-than-stellar environmental record in the communities and areas
where hydraulic fracturing has taken place.
But for America’s politicians in
particular, fracking is the door for energy independence and even net energy
exports. Environmental degradation can take a backseat.
The short-sightedness of politicians
and our political system is as untenable as it is immoral. While there are
advantages to fracking, those advantages are reduced as a result of lax
regulations and the unwillingness of fracking companies to seriously pursue
sustainable best management practices.
So while proponents of fracking
celebrate the potential it portends for America’s energy independence, they
disregard the immense damage that is being done to our environment as a result.
If we are to follow the common trope
that “I’ll be dead before I see the consequences,” America itself will be a
shell of what it used to be because too few individuals had the foresight or
courage to look ahead and act in the best interests for the current and future
generations.
America has become a country of quick
and easy fixes. But the problems we are creating can only be resolved by
long-term and gut-wrenching changes to how we operate as a society.
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