CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

In his first major policy decision on the environment, Gov. David A. Paterson on Thursday blocked the nation’s first floating liquefied natural gas plant, which had been proposed for Long Island Sound. Moving ahead on the $700 million plant, he said, would put a large section of the Sound off limits to boaters and would not guarantee low-cost gas for Long Island.

“One of my goals as governor is to protect Long Island Sound,” Mr. Paterson said at Sunken Meadow State Park, on Long Island. “Shame on us if we can’t develop a responsible energy policy without sacrificing one of our greatest natural and economic resources.”

A broad range of environmental groups, community activists and elected officials from New York and Connecticut have strongly opposed the Broadwater Energy plan to build a 1,200-foot-long floating platform that looks like a ship and can hold up to 8 billion cubic feet of imported natural gas.

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