Texasville Case Study

Over the past century the city of Brownsville, Texas has had a tourism based economy, but there are new threats to that long tradition. The Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant companies have decided that the tradition should change with the justification of “helping” the economy. Although the LNG plants might help the economy briefly the harmful effects will have a longer impact on the environment than the economy.
According to the KRGV News “The Town of Laguna Vista [opposes to] the LNG project,” and if the whole community opposes to the change then would not that be enough to stop the project (KRGV)? If the people of the town believe that it, the town, would be better off without it, the LNG plant, then let the people choose! “Our only industry here is tourism,” said one of the town’s people, Kerry Schwartz, the people know what they are doing (Schwartz). The people have been there long enough, without the plant, to know how the economy works and to run their town. The people know what is best for them and their beloved town.

Texas Parks and Wildlife have the concerns of: damage to the wetlands, impact on native vegetation, sound and light pollution, and diminished aesthetic to the coastal landscape,” to name a few (KRGV). The damage to the wetlands, native vegetation, and the pollution will last far longer than the benefit to the economy. Of the visual aesthetic of the now beautiful coastal landscape diminishes, then it will also diminish the economy since it is based on tourism, plus no one wants to visit an industrial wasteland. The tourist do not want to see the large corporate buildings instead of the beautiful beaches they are accustomed