To; SPI Chamber President
Dear Ms. Roxanne Guenzel:
I am very disappointed about the letter you submitted on behalf of the SPI Chamber in support of the proposed LNG plants and your recent comments to the media.
I am a Brownsville native and part time island resident. My parents have lived here for 20 years and owned property in Port Isabel before that. I have been enjoying the beaches here my entire life.
I was curious what the tourists would think so I took my question straight to them. Accordingly I have been surveying people on the beach all summer.
I told of the proposed industrialization of the area due to SpaceX and the LNGs and asked what they thought. The answer was No No No. No we didn't know anything, no we don't want it here and NO we won't come!
One hundred percent of the people I spoke with were against it. Many were adamant that if this turns into anything like Galveston they wouldn't be returning. They all mentioned how far they drive to come to these beautiful beaches. The ones from the Houston area said they don't even go to Galveston. In addition, many of them mentioned going to Alabama or Florida if the island were to change substantially. One woman said "the other Texas beaches are nasty" so she never wanted to come here. Her husband had persuaded her and this was her first visit here. She was pleasantly surprised.
Of all the people I spoke with only one man said he wasn't concerned about the environmental impact, but still said he wouldn't come because of the crowds that these businesses might draw. He said it would change the whole tone and tenor of the area, and he and his wife both complained about the traffic as it was. They like this area because it is clean and quiet.
What we have here is priceless and if we allow the LNG plants to move in there will be no way to rectify the damage. You seem to be overlooking the huge amount of work and expense that went into the restoration of the Bahia Grande. Why bother doing that only to turn around and allow this?
You are also failing to take into account that many, if not all, of our tourists come from big cities. They come to escape the hustle and bustle of the city, not to see something they could see in any big city in the county.
Think about what you expect from a hotel. You want peace and quiet, beauty and cleanliness. Then think what you want from a beach vacation. It is the same. You don't want to drive towards the island from Los Fresnos and see large towers with billows of smoke. When you get to Port Isabel you want to roll the windows down and breathe in the clean, fresh salt air, not gasses from an LNG plant.
You also fail to consider these people have a choice. They do not have to come here.
The LNG plants will be dangerous, if a fire starts it will be catastrophic, they will damage our environment so goodbye clean air! The companies will ship the gas elsewhere, thus causing our gas, electricity and grocery prices to climb, not to mention changing the landscape which will have a very detrimental affect on the wildlife. That directly impacts tourism.
People come to go birding, fishing and go on dolphin tours. They delight in seeing the endangered Kemp's Ridley sea turtle who has returned from near extinction. In addition, we have the beautiful bottlenose dolphins. All the species of wildlife in the area have enough to contend with the footprint we already make on the area, and the expanding population. We don't need do anything to add to the existing pollution.
South Padre Island's economy is totally based on tourism. Any industry that would jeopardize the environment here is not one that any of you should even consider supporting.
5 comments:
Como si nos van hacer mucho caso. Las mordidas ya se pagaron.
"When you get to Port Isabel you want to roll the windows down and breathe in the clean, fresh salt air, not gasses from an LNG plant." That's exactly what me and my family always remember about our drive to the beach. As soon as you get to Port Isabel, where Tarpon Stadium used to be, we rolled down the windows and stuck our heads out and took long deep breaths never thinking once that there would come a time when we had to fight for our clean air. Great letter.
I've been reading up on the Bahia Grande Restoration project and found out it was the largest in the United States and over 60 groups were involved in this ongoing restoration. I also read that Filemon Vela supported the restoration project, but now is in favor of letting the lng plants pave over the wetlands, pollute the air and water, and ruin tourism. What changed? Follow the money.
I, personally am against it, but I know it's gonna go through and happen, cause non of the leaders and politicians that we elected have stepped up to Say No To LNG. I've attended some of the Say No To LNG In RGV meetings, and it's sad to say that there is always a low attendance. Tells you nobody cares and that they will let our leaders do what they want and destroy our home. We will no longer be a green area, we will be a wasteland after LNG. Thanks good for nothing, Stingy, Selfish, Greedy leaders!
Money the root of all EVIL, looks like our congressman vela got some already, no la brinca sin huarache, common folks time to move on, deals have been made already, its only a matter of time, no one will listen to the little folks like us. done dealings already just call our US CONGRE$$MAN VELA and by the way folks we thought Solomon Ortiz was bad.
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