Oil Company Eyes Jersey Coast

New York, NY —

Exxon Mobil says it wants to anchor a floating liquefied natural gas terminal 20 miles off the Jersey coast. The country's biggest oil company says the terminal would cost more than $1 billion to build and it would supply enough natural gas for more than 5 million residential customers.

The floating terminal would be connected to land by an underwater pipeline. The New Jersey Sierra Club's Jeff Tittel says natural gas is a lot cleaner than coal and it produces fewer greenhouse gases. He says the offshore location is advantageous because it would be less vulnerable to terrorist attacks. Exxon Mobil says the project still needs to go through a lengthy permitting process.