Wed, 2013-09-11 12:45STEVE HORNSTEVE HORN
DESMOBLOGBLOG.COM v Wed, 2013-09-11 12:45 STEVE HORN
Breaking: First Marcellus Fracked Gas Export Permit Approved by Energy Dept
DESMOBLOGBLOG.COM v Wed, 2013-09-11 12:45 STEVE HORN 
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)has granted the first ever LNG export permit license to Dominion Resources, Inc. to export gas obtained from the controversial hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") process in the Marcellus Shale basin.
It's the fourth ever export terminal approved by the DOE, with the three others along the Gulf Coast: Cheniere's Sabine Pass LNG, Freeport LNG (50-percent owned by ConocoPhillips) and Lake Charles Exports, LLC.
Located in Lusby, Maryland, the Dominion Cove Point LNG terminal will be a key regional hub to take gas fracked from one of the most prolific shale basins in the world - the Marcellus - and ship it to global markets, with shale gas exports a key geopolitical bargaining chip with Russia, the biggest producer of conventional gas in the world.
Dominion owns not only Cove Point, but also the pipeline infrastructure set to feed the terminal.
THE ARTICLE GOES ON TO SAY: "Exporting LNG to foreign buyers will lock us into decades-long contracts, which in turn will lead to more drilling -- and that means more fracking, more air and water pollution, and more climate-fueled weather disasters like record fires, droughts, and superstores like last year's Sandy...As we have shown, once environmental impacts are evaluated, it becomes clear that the additional fracking and gas production exports would induce is unacceptable."
