Roger Clayman, executive director of the Long Island Federation of Labor, said that Port Ambrose would provide “jobs that are good for the planet.”

“We can’t just turn off the switch on fossil fuel,” Clayman said. “We want to move quickly to renewables, but it takes time. We need a mix of different energy sources.”

If Liberty receives all the necessary permits and approval by Christie and Cuomo, construction could begin as early as 2015, according to the company’s website.

What is LNG, and who is Liberty?

LNG is natural gas that has been cooled to -260 Fahrenheit and liquefied in order to transport it by ship overseas. Once shipped overseas, it is then heated aboard ship to restore it to gas form and piped ashore..

Liberty is registered in Delaware and based in New York City, but the company is a wholly owned subsidiary of West Face Long Term Opportunities Global Master L.P., an investment fund registered in the Cayman Islands that is managed by West Face Capital Inc., a Toronto-based hedge fund. Gregory Boland, a Canadian investor who specializes in junk bonds, arbitrage trades, distressed debt and corporate takeovers, founded West Face in 2007, according to Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail. West Face’s LinkedIn page lists its assets at $2.5 billion.

Liberty submitted an application to build Port Ambrose to the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Maritime Administration in September 2012. Several other federal and state agencies, in addition to the Coast Guard and Maritime Administration, which have not yet issued decisions, must sign off on the project before construction can begin. The agencies include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.