I was reading this morning in the Evansville Courier & Press, an article entitled, "Is bayou future of natural gas?" The article discusses the huge investment being made in terminals for liquefied natural gas around the U.S. and offshore. The article touches on "environmental and safety concerns," yet doesn't really go into specifically what these concerns are. These terminals are a response to increases in natural gas prices and the need to import natural gas from overseas. In places like Louisiana, the gas can be plugged into pipelines that travel through states. The liquefied state occurs when "gas is cooled to minus 260 degrees and turned into liquid," such that it can be imported from other nations. In hurricane country, such as along the Gulf Coast, many look at these terminals as a good way of boosting a lagging economy and as a better alternative to "the rows of refineries and chemical plants" in other portions of that region. In my mind, these terminals are concerning, because they show a way in which we as Americans may become even more dependent on a fossil fuel, natural gas. Nonetheless, the terminals do seem a lesser evil to oil refineries and coal-fired power plants, at least given the relatively clean reputation of natural gas. Again, since the article doesn't delve into environmental concerns, it may be unfair to make this comparison. At any rate, I don't think you can knock these companies, such as Sempra Energy, for building the terminals. If people keep demanding natural gas, this may be the best means by which to meet that need. If it can be imported from stable nations, rather than the often unstable countries from which we derive oil, then it seems like a preferable alternative. This is especially true given all of the areas in the Northeast that rely on oil for heat. If natural gas can replace that oil in the short term, it's hard to fault that in my mind. Alternative energy is still the only long-term answer in my opinion, yet we need to fill the gaps in the short-term with something other than dirty coal and foreign oil.