California’s energy market is driving LNG investment on the West Coast, as projects proposed from Mexico to Oregon would serve California, should any be built. Yet there is no convincing case that LNG is actually needed in California, and there has been no credible process by which the need for LNG has been established.

A study done by the RACE Coalition (as a comment letter regarding the rejected Cabrillo Port LNG project) concludes the following:

• Gas demand in California has declined by nearly 8 percent since 2000.

• Importing LNG for core gas supply will expose a portion of California’s natural gas supply to geopolitical risk and create the potential for greater energy insecurity than continued reliance on domestic supply sources.

• There are adequate supplies of natural gas in North America to meet California’s declining natural gas demand.

• High and volatile natural gas prices are the result of a lack of effective regulation of U.S. natural gas commodity trading markets and do not reflect a physical shortage of domestic natural gas.

In addition, these studies demonstrate how California can further reduce natural gas demand dramatically by adhering to the state’s policy of a 33 percent renewable standard by the year 2020:

Does California Need LNG? Published by the Community Environmental Council

Synapse Study for RACE, 2003

RACE’s comments to the State Lands Commission regarding the Cabrillo Port LNG Terminal