2008 Oct 31

Editorial

Gas problem passes

Passamaquoddy Bay’s uncomfortable gas problem has passed...for now. While at times over the past few years there have been as many as three liquefied natural gas projects in the works on the Maine shore of the bay, there are currently zero.

None of the LNG developers have applications pending before any of the Maine agencies that regulate such projects. This comes on the heels of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) dismissal of the grandfather of the LNG developments, Quoddy Bay LNG. After FERC cut Quoddy Bay loose, company president Don Smith — who calls his project responsible, environmentally friendly, safe, and necessary, while critics call him a carpetbagger with dollar signs in his eyes — withdrew his applications with the state.

Smith said he’ll file again at an undetermined date — a fitting sentiment on Halloween. Just when you thought it was dead... LNG is backfrom the beyond! It’s alive!

But that’s the wishful thinking of a desperate opportunist who’s looking for love in all the wrong places. The LNG projects proposed for Passamaquoddy Bay — bringing tankers through treacherous waters to gas terminals on pristine shores — have been nothing short of bizarre. Those who don’t want to see an LNG industry in Passamaquoddy Bay, namely all of Canada and a healthy segment of the American and Passamaquoddy Nations, can enjoy a victory. The LNG monster has crept back to the crypt for now but be sure, it may well rise again.