In the past weeks, the Valley Morning Star published a letter to the editor by TSTC Provost Dr. Stella Garcia who extolled the virtues of Rio Grande LNG and what this company would be doing for our communities through their jobs in construction.
I was chagrined and then appalled by Dr. Garcia’s overt advertising for a particular company and a polluting industry.
Has the educational funding by our state legislators become so insufficient to cause college provosts to “shill” for the LNG companies?
And through unabashed open advertising for the LNG company, a website is provided for easier reference by an educational leader?
Will more advertising be forthcoming from Dr. Garcia for other selected industries, as she has started a precedent?
There are no objections to jobs in the RGV, but there are objections to in-coming polluting industries whose refining process will degrade our environment (sulfur dioxide) and adversely affect the health of our residents (nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, volatile organic compounds are some examples).
The local communities of Pt. Isabel, Laguna Vista, Pt. Isabel which are the most impacted by huge LNG export terminals on the Brownsville Ship Channel are opposed and stated so with FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission).
So, Dr. Garcia, does advertising for LNG jobs become more important than the total health of the communities you serve educationally?
Diane Teter Edinburg
