LNG Opponents Reportedly Are Planning Press Conference Before Governor’s Signing Here of AB 32

Opponents of the controversial Cabrillo Port liquefied natural gas terminal were bisy scrambling to put together a press conference to take advantage of a just-announced visit by Governor Schwarzenegger to Malibu on Wednesday—between the time the Malibu Surfside News goes to press and is distributed—for a second ceremonial signing of AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.

Initial reports indicate that the press conference, which reportedly will include members of the Malibu City Council, who have unanimously voted in opposition to the floating terminal proposed by international mining giant B.H.P. Billiton for 13.8 miles off the northwestern Malibu coast, was tentatively scheduled for noon on Wednesday at Malibu Bluffs Park.

The governor’s first ceremonial signing of the landmark program of regulatory and market mechanisms to achieve quantifiable and cost-effective reductions of greenhouse gases, will take place in San Francisco in the morning.

Schwarzenegger will then fly to Malibu for a second ceremony that will be held in Brock House, the quarters of the president of Pepperdine University, located on the campus, at 2 p.m. The scenic Malibu backdrop is seen as the perfect location to reap maximum political advantage from and media coverage of the environmental breakthrough.

Cabrillo Port critics who operate under the assumption that the governor is leaning in favor of the project are expected to challenge what they perceive as grandstanding because he has declined to oppose the project.Schwarzenegger has been a travel guest of the Australian government and is viewed in the Australian media as supportive of the project. One Aussie media Cabrillo watcher has described the debate as between the Terminator—the governor’s movie persona—and James Bond, Cabrillo foe Pierce Brosnan’s former role.