The lures (and limits) of natural gas

HERE IN NEW ENGLAND, LNG is shorthand for controversy. For years, activists and state and local politicians have been battling energy companies interested in building liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in spots like Fall River and Outer Brewster Island. Opponents argue that the terminals, and the tankers full of flammable super-cooled natural gas that dock at them, are a threat both to the local environment and anyone who happens to live nearby. Proponents call these fears overblown and talk up natural gas’s virtues: It’s efficient and clean-burning and emits less greenhouse gas than any other fossil fuel.

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