READ THIS DISASTER -
This was what was going on in communist East Germany. In a workshop in Germany in 91 Germans discussed how it was against the law to ask the govt questions about the environment in which they lived; if they persisted, they went to jail.
The Patriot Ax
By William J. Kelly, AlterNet
March 19, 2004
The risks of planned liquefied natural gas terminals are being kept secret from residents where terminals are planned because of recent federal rules issued under the U.S.A. Patriot Act. Local and state officials on both coasts and in the Gulf, who are just becoming familiar with the rules, may be kept from gaining full access to the safety studies – as well as residents in affected areas.
To date, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has restricted access to more than 90,000 documents under the rules. "A considerable percentage of them are about safety and environmental compliance," said Sean Moulton, senior information policy analyst for OMB
Watch in Washington, who has examined the titles of the restricted items.
While the federal commission issued the rules a year ago, their effect is only now being realized by cities, states, and citizen groups as the federal regulators apply the information controls to the spate of LNG terminal proposals across the nation.
"LNG is definitely going to be the area where this policy will get its toughest test," said Moulton. LNG poses "a significant risk to the workers and the surrounding community.
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http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=18181