Washington, DC: Today Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and dean of the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation, released the following statement on the approval by Governor Mitt Romney to site two LNG terminals offshore and away from population centers:

"Governor Romney's approval of two offshore Liquefied Natural Gas terminals demonstrates that there are safer alternatives to siting new LNG terminals in densely populated areas such as Fall River or in sensitive parklands such as the Outer Brewster Islands.  New England needs more LNG, but we have a responsibility to ensure that those LNG imports are delivered securely in this post-9/11 world.  The question of how many LNG terminals are constructed in our region is something that no governor can decide alone.  We must implement a long-term plan to secure our energy security in New England, though, and in the new Congress we should have that opportunity."

The New England Congressional delegation met with Energy Secretary Bodman last year to urge him to implement a national and regional review process to determine where and how many of these LNG terminals to build. 

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