I Might Be Deluded But I Think That Ultimately New York Will Reject Broadwater

Broadwater's proposal to put a huge LNG terminal in the publicly-owned waters of Long Island Sound was dead last week. I'm convinced of that. The Department of State was prepared to issue a decision saying the obvious -- that there's no way in the world an LNG terminal in the Sound is consistent with state policies for use of the coastal zone.

The suits at Broadwater and Shell had to be aware of this and so they went over the head of the Department of State, to Governor Spitzer. If I were to suggest what happened when they met, I'd be speculating. But the result was a 60-day extension of the deadline by which the Department of State has to make its decision.

What I'm convinced of is that New York State will stick to its guns and reject Broadwater on the merits and if residents of Long Island especially but also Connecticut make it known that the project is bad for Long Island Sound and that it is not needed, that there are real alternatives. I've watched New York State in action for a long time, and I know some of the people who will be helping Spitzer make his decision. They have a lot of integrity. But they'll want to be sure that they have grassroots support and the substantive ammunition to do the right thing. Is it guaranteed? No. It probably will be a very close decision. But I think they'' do the right thing.

In the meantime, I and the entire Sphere staff will be here

for a while, hoping I don't come back like this:


Blogging will recommence in a couple of weeks.