On the Broadwater Issue, the Long Island Association is an Arrogant Meddler

The annoyance at the Long Island Association's announcement last week that it was giving its conditional support to Broadwater's LNG proposal for Long Island Sound wasn't limited to just environmentalists. One of the association's board members, Richard Kessel, chief executive of the Long Island Power Authority, thought the association's announcement was just slightly premature too, particularly since one of its conditions was that Broadwater provide gas at a discount to the Long Island Power Authority. Here's what Newsday reported today:

Kessel said he was especially rankled by plans for the association to negotiate with Broadwater on the conditions that the LIA board has set for the board's full support.

The first meeting was Tuesday.

Among the LIA's conditions is a long-term contract between Broadwater and LIPA for natural gas at "significantly discounted" prices.

"The LIA is certainly free to say what it wants," Kessel said, "but it should not put itself into a position of negotiating benefits for LIPA; that's LIPA's job."

Someone else made an interesting point to me yesterday about the chutzpah of the Long Island Association. The group's president, Matthew T. Crosson, said last week that that association wants to meet with the Broadwater people:

Crosson said in the association's statement that the group would meet with Broadwater executives to discuss specifics of its conditions. "If we are unable to negotiate those conditions to our satisfaction, the LIA board of directors will reconsider its support of the project," he said.

That's nice that he wants to be involved but on the other hand what makes him think anyone wants his pro-business group negotiating with Broadwater, or that it has any right to negotiate with Broadwater?

As it was expressed to me yesterday, who are they to act as brokers to sell off Long Island Sound?

Long Islanders might be impressed with the Long Island Association, but I'm not. Whatever they might have done or not done in the past, the association ought to pipe down on the Broadwater issue until it knows what it's talking about and has something useful to say. Until then I can only think of it as a arrogant meddler.

Yawn: The Long Island Association Announces Its Conditional Support of Broadwater

The Long Island Association, a pro-business organization, announced yesterday that it would support the Broadwater LNG proposal if the proposal meets certain conditions.

Adrienne Esposito of Citizens Campaign for the Environment and Dick Amper of the Long Island Pine Barrens Society had a conniption when they heard the news. They reacted in Newsday as if the Long Island Association was guilty of an act of abject betrayal, and perhaps it was.

My more subdued reaction is: Who cares?

Here’s what the Long Island Association said:

"All environmental, safety and security issues must be resolved to federal and state satisfaction; Long Island must get lower priced gas; environmental, commercial fishing, community benefit, safety and security funds must be set up; payments in lieu of taxes to Riverhead."

As I said, “Who Cares?”

It’s meaningless to say that all environmental, safety and security issues must be resolved to federal and state satisfaction. It is meaningless because of the alternative: Was there any chance that the Long Island Association was going to say, “We support Broadwater no matter what, even if it will damage Long Island Sound and put our lives at risk”?

For the Long Island Association to have been taken seriously, it would have had to say something like this: When the feds and the state finish their environmental reviews, we’ll take a hard look at their conclusions and, if we agree with them, we’ll endorse the proposal.

For another thing, look at the reaction of John Hritcko, Broadwater’s vice president and chief mouthpiece:

"The conditions within LIA's statement of support are already part of Broadwater's plans and we look forward to working with the LIA."

How much more meaningless can you get? The conditions that the Long Island Association is insisting with all its moral force and gravity that Broadwater adhere to are already part of the Broadwater plan.

To the Long Island Association: Next time save yourselves the effort.