Making history in Santa Barbara on Thursday, the state Coastal Commission unanimously decided that the Cabrillo Port project -- a plan to haul Australian liquefied natural gas across the ocean to a giant floating terminal off the coast between Oxnard and Malibu -- would violate state policy by fueling global warming.

According to a commission staff report, the plan by BHP Billiton LLC, the largest mining company in the world, would spew 23 million tons of greenhouse gases into the air yearly -- or 40 percent as much as New York City.

“I’m absolutely amazed this project is even on the table,” said Commissioner Larry Clark, a councilman from Rancho Palos Verdes. “Categorically and completely, I won’t support it.”