SACRAMENTO - Assemblymember Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys) made the following statement this afternoon in response to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s rejection of BHP Billiton’s application for the Cabrillo Port Liquefied Natural Gas Deepwater Port off the Ventura County Coast.

“I celebrate today’s decision with all the citizens whose lives would have been adversely impacted by the BHP Billiton project,” said Assemblymember Levine, who is the Chair of the Assembly’s Utilities and Commerce Committee. “An environmental impact report associated with the project identified more than a dozen harmful effects on marine life, air quality and the coastal environment, and we already knew this project was not in compliance with our Clean Air Act. These factors, combined with the great efforts of many concerned Californians, helped to sink this proposal. It was the wrong project at the wrong time for California.

“Four years ago, our energy situation in California was in a much different place,” Levine continued. “However after several productive years of passing legislation focusing not only on energy efficiency standards, but also on green, clean, and renewable energy sources, there is no need to lessen our state’s commitment to a clean environment by approving the BHP Billiton terminal.”