John Tierney: “I regret that the point of order was raised. As I was mentioning, the purpose is for spurring a rational process for…”

“I regret that the point of order was raised. As I was mentioning, the purpose is for spurring a rational process for siting liquid natural gas facilities in the northeast region. That the region needs additional energy resources is not in dispute. Our homes and our businesses depend on adequate supplies to maintain our quality of life, but our quality of life also depends on having a rational process for determining how many facilities are reasonably needed in the region and where any new facilities will locate. Current policy only calls for evaluation and approval of new liquid natural gas facilities as they are proposed, independent of all other applications and without any regulation concern for overcapacity or overbuilding in any particular area. Important fishing, shipping, security and conservation interests are impacted by the sitings, particularly by multiple sitings. Yet the current law does not account for this. Already there are two proposals in one area known as block 125 off the Massachusetts coast. There are a total of 16 proposals that could be built along the northeast area. Those are all pending. {time} 2115 Some people just say that the marketplace will sort it out, but in fact it is the responsibility of public policy officials to provide for a much more rational approach.…”