Ventura County Star On LNG.

Before the rise of the blogosphere, the mainstream media was free to stray off the reservation with impunity-- to publish positions in support of a polical agenda that were so outlandish and divorced from reality to be almost laughable.

But alas, no more! When papers like the Ventura County Star print popagandist op-eds the likes of Rory Cox's piece in today's paper, we're here to call them out on it.

Cox, who is a Program Director for San Francisco-based "Pacific Environment" (sounds objective, already doesn't it?), penned a piece in today's Star claiming that the argument over proposed LNG terminals shouldn't be "where" we put them, but "why" we need them.

Cox must be new to California. To suggest that we don't need a new source of clean, reliable energy demonstrates either hypocrisy or ignorance.

Cox argues further that we shouldn't develop LNG resources because the Russian government once shut down an LNG plant. This argument makes so little sense that I can't even begin to address it.

Cox then argues that LNG will increase energy bills and harm the environment. I can respond in two words: "Wrong" and "Wrong".

I'm all for the First Amendment-- it's what we're all about in the blogosphere. But, the Ventura County Star has done its readers an enormous disservice by giving a patina of legitimacy to Cox's poorly informed, politically motivated propaganda.

Californians (and readers of the Ventura County Star) are capable of deciding for themselves what direction our state should take, but they are at a tremendous disadvantage in doing so when ostensibly "legitimate" media outlets like the Ventura County Star reduce themselves to modern-day carnival barkers by peddling this kind of misinformation and propaganda.

Before bringing LNG to our shores, we need to question 'why?' [Ventura County Star]

EDITOR'S NOTE: In case you missed the connection, the above photo is of Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf, the former Iraqi Minister of Informtion and the patron saint of propagandists. You might recall some of his more outlandish claims like the one after Baghdad fell: "There are no Americans in Baghdad! None."