Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thu, Jan 19, 2012

The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:

South Fayette challenge to drilling rules heads to court
Post-gazette.com
South Fayette is continuing to battle Range Resources over Marcellus Shale drilling regulations, while at the same time working to develop rules for the seismic testing used in natural gas exploration.

Power plants OK’d on 55 conditions from Washington County township
Post-gazette.com
Side-by-side power plants — one fueled by natural gas and the other by waste coal — gained approval Monday night in Robinson, Washington County.

Marcellus boom threatens climate change action, study says
Charleston Gazette
The boom in drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale and other similar formations will likely suppress the development of alternative energies that are urgently needed to combat global warming, according to a new study by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute for Technology.

Will Keystone decision affect Marcellus activism?
Business Journal
Protesters against the planned Keystone XL pipeline project rallied on East Carson Street in October and then marched to a spot near the Hot Metal Bridge to tell President Obama to block the pipeline project.

PA Democratic Party Passes Resolution to Support a Severance Tax on Fracking
Keystonepolitics.com
Slowly but surely, more liberals seem to be coming around to the view that the Republicans’ "local impact fee" bills are totally irredeemable.

America’s Job-Rich Energy Future
Forbes.com
Americans everywhere have been living through hard times. But the new year brings optimism, particularly when it comes to homegrown U.S. energy. Expanding the supply of affordable oil and gas is the single best bet for economic recovery in 2012 and beyond.

DEC: No timetable on fracking review
Business Journal
As the New York state Department of Environmental Conservation is reviewing tens of thousands of comments relating to hydraulic fracturing of Marcellus Shale in the state, no timetable has been set for when oil and gas companies, landowners, and opposition groups will get to see them.