Philly Refinery to Close Following Massive Fire – 1,020 Jobs Lost
Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES), which operates the East Coast’s largest refinery on the banks of the Delaware River, was already wobbling because of onerous federal regulations that require refiners to blend in biofuel with gasoline and diesel, or purchase very expensive credits. PES can’t blend, so they must buy the credits, which put them under water financially, forcing them into bankruptcy last year (see Philadelphia Refinery Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy). Following a series of explosions and a massive fire last week (see Massive Explosion, Fire at Philadelphia Refinery), PES has announced it will be closing down over the next two weeks, throwing 1,020 people out of work.
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In February MDN told you that Dominion Energy planned to appeal a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit blocking an important permit for Atlantic Coast Pipeline to drill under the Appalachian Trail directly to the U.S. Supreme Court (see 
Global warming fundamentalists (our new term for radical environmentalists who irrationally hate all fossil fuels) are ramping up to oppose a plan to prevent a now-closed coal-fired electric power plant in Baltimore from reopening powered by natural gas. Because you know, global warming. And because we MUST dump the use of all fossil fuels by 2050 (the new “it” date) or earth will explode. This plant would have a useful life much longer than 2050. Can’t have that.
The Manhattan Institute, a leading free-market think tank based in the Big Apple, has just published a new report (full copy below) that shows by blocking new natural gas pipeline projects, NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo is actually causing MORE harm to the environment. How? Blocking natural gas means building owners and power producers will continue to rely on oil, which emits 27% more carbon dioxide than natural gas. The report also shows lack of pipelines is forcing energy prices in the northeast to rocket skyward, which in some cases already exceed the national average by more than 90%.
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Frackers go electric as negative gas prices spur switch; NATIONAL: Williams releases 2018 sustainability report; Williams pipeline support highlights Environmental Defense Fund’s long, cozy relationship with fracking pseudoscience; As coal fades in the U.S., natural gas becomes the climate battleground; Jones Act changes could disrupt offshore oil and gas sector; INTERNATIONAL: Why climate activists threaten endangered species with extinction; Fracking has enhanced the U.S. strategic position in the Persian Gulf region; Loosening Russia’s stranglehold on European natural gas.