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Hollywood A-listers take on BHP Billiton-(looney left dont need LNG gas)
the west ^ | 20th September 2006 | na

Posted on 09/21/2006 9:04:15 PM PDT by Flavius

Hollywood's biggest stars are going to war with Australian resources giant BHP Billiton.

A who's who of A-List celebrities, including Tom Hanks, Charlize Theron, Barbra Streisand and Cher, have launched a high-profile campaign in the US to halt BHP Billiton's $US5 billion ($A6.67 billion) plan to build a massive liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal off the coast of the Los Angeles seaside community of Malibu.

Australian singer and actress Olivia Newton-John, a longtime resident of Malibu, has also joined the fight against the company.

"We want to stop the BHP Billiton LNG terminal now!" a letter signed by the 45 high-profile actors, singers, supermodels and Hollywood executives states.

Leading the A-List campaign is former James Bond, Pierce Brosnan, who gave a keynote address at a fundraiser in Malibu last week.

The function's attendees were asked to donate $US250 ($A330) each.

"This proposed liquefied natural gas terminal is part of a globalised assault taking place on our Earth," Brosnan said.

"We cannot let this project be approved."

The campaign, if successful, would be a blow to BHP Billiton and the Australian economy, with the project potentially worth $A15 billion to Australia in exports.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard deemed the project so important for Australia he flew to Los Angeles in 2004 to lobby California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The BHP Billiton LNG proposal involves the construction of a massive deepwater terminal 23km off the coast of Malibu. The gas would be brought to the terminal by ship from Australia and then piped from the terminal to the US mainland.

Brosnan said the terminal would be 14 stories high and three football fields in length.

Malibu City Council has also launched an aggressive campaign against the LNG project, with council members voting unanimously "to protect and preserve Malibu by strongly opposing the proposed LNG terminals".

The council has allocated $US50,000 ($A66,600) to fight the anti-terminal campaign.

The project could receive US government approval as early as December.

Malibu Council, the celebrities and other environmental groups are heartened by other grassroots campaigns in the US that led to similar proposals being scrubbed.

"Other communities such as Humbolt and Vallejo have successfully stopped LNG facilities from being built," Brosnan said in his address.

"We can, too."

The terminal's opponents claim the project would be an environmental polluter, negatively impact "the health and safety of our families" and would be an attractive terrorist target.

"This floating LNG terminal will emit more than 200 tons of smog-producing pollutants per year, in an area long known for high occurrences of asthma in both children and adults," the letter signed by the celebrities states.

"Additionally, it is estimated that the project as a whole will emit 25,000,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually, further contributing to global warming."

Howard, after his meeting with Schwarzenegger in 2004, backed Australia's LNG safety record.

"We of course can boast a great record of safety and reliability over a period of 15 years we've been supplying LNG to Japan," Howard said at the time.

"No accidents, always delivered on time. Something in the order of 26,000 voyages that can be pointed to without any difficulties."

Howard also downplayed the terminal as a terrorist target, noting the distance the terminal would be located off the coast of Malibu.

Several other companies have proposed rival LNG terminals on the Californian mainland.

"Terrorists always want to inflict maximum misery on people and if they can attack an installation which is closer to a large centre of population, that might be a more attractive target than something that's offshore," Howard said.

Schwarzenegger surprised all sides in the LNG debate a year ago when he said the BHP Billiton proposal "could probably be the most safest one for California".

In January, Australia's Woodside Petroleum announced a rival LNG terminal plan the company billed as safer than the BHP Billiton project.

Woodside's project would not involve a giant terminal built off the coast.

Woodside plans to build special ships that could deliver the natural gas straight into an underwater pipeline 24km off the California coast.

Other celebrities who are supporting the anti-BHP Billiton proposal include Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman, Sting, Dick Van Dyke, Jane Seymour, Dylan McDermott, Martin Sheen, James Brolin, Kenny G, Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, Cindy Crawford, Daryl Hannah and Ed Harris.

BHP Billiton said it was unfazed by celebrity protests against the terminal.

The world's biggest miner is currently awaiting the publication of a final draft environmental impact report by the Californian State Land Commission, after which it expects additional public hearings by the end of this year.

"The submission process has a focus on the technical and scientific aspects of the project," a BHP Billiton spokeswoman told AAP.

"From our perspective, all we can say at this stage is that we believe the Coast Guard and the Californian State Lands Commission are taking the appropriate amount of time to consider and address the all the comments and issues."

But the spokeswoman confirmed BHP Billiton plans to push ahead with the now controversial terminal.

"This is something that we are committed to pursuing," she explained.

"The project has already generated a lot of interest anyway, but obviously at this stage all we'd say is that there is a process under way and we'll wait and see how that turns out or progresses," she added.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: lng

1 posted on 09/21/2006 9:04:16 PM PDT by Flavius
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To: Flavius
they just had the wrong spokesman
2 posted on 09/21/2006 9:05:55 PM PDT by Flavius (Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum)
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To: Flavius

malibu would make a good wind farm, it would also be a good place for a nuke power plant


3 posted on 09/21/2006 9:08:56 PM PDT by Luigi Vasellini (What do you call 2 toddlers and some duct tape??........muslim body armor!!!!!!!)
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To: Flavius
Here's the perfect location.


4 posted on 09/21/2006 9:21:15 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative
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To: Flavius

Inane, vapid, foolish, self-important nincompoops.


5 posted on 09/21/2006 9:23:11 PM PDT by Shimmer128 (My beloved is mine and I am his. Song of Solomon 1:16)
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To: Flavius

NIMBY.....Malibu....THAT'S the PROBLEM.


6 posted on 09/21/2006 9:43:36 PM PDT by goodnesswins (I think the real problem is islamo-bombia! (Rummyfan))
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To: Flavius

I'm surprised all those hollywooders found enough time to tear themselves away from their main priorities to get involved in this. Those priorities being:

1) Whore chasing
2) Alchohol and drug abuse (Pierce knows a lot about this subject)
3) Sex
4) Orgies
5) Shopping
6) Attending parties
7) Whore chasing
8) Stabing each other in the back
9) Getting away with crimes
10) Whore chasing


7 posted on 09/21/2006 9:47:11 PM PDT by Proud_USA_Republican (We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good. - Hillary Clinton)
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To: Flavius

"This proposed liquefied natural gas terminal is part of a globalised assault taking place on our Earth," Brosnan said."

Huh?


8 posted on 09/21/2006 9:48:51 PM PDT by SoldierDad (Proud Father of an American Soldier)
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To: SoldierDad

I wonder how much energy his Malibu mansion and garage of luxury automobiles consumes a month?


9 posted on 09/21/2006 9:57:23 PM PDT by Proud_USA_Republican (We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good. - Hillary Clinton)
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To: Proud_USA_Republican

Not to mention the private jets he zooms around the world in.


10 posted on 09/21/2006 9:58:42 PM PDT by SoldierDad (Proud Father of an American Soldier)
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To: Flavius
Yet another reason why I like Schwarzenegger where he is. This kind of thing drives the liberal elite WILD. I am loving it!

Hey, build a nice, big wind farm right off the coast, too. The celebrities should contribute to the energy problem in between all their little charitable endeavors designed solely to make them look good.

11 posted on 09/21/2006 9:59:56 PM PDT by KellyAdmirer
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To: Flavius

One would think that these lunkheads would want this terminal in their backyard. They could convert their vehicles to dual fuel. They then could run on LNG instead of gasoline. Much, much less polluting.


12 posted on 09/21/2006 10:09:00 PM PDT by Ghengis (Alexander was a wuss!)
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