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MDN Enjoys First Day of Shale Gas Insight Conference & Show

MDN enjoyed our first day at Shale Gas Insight, being held in Philadelphia. The exhibit hall, where we’ve been hanging out for most of the time, is filled with exhibit stands bearing many of the names we’ve written about over the past several years.

Yesterday saw some real headliners on the podium: PA Gov. Tom Corbett kicked things off with an early morning session, followed by a vigorous debate moderated by Ted Koppel, featuring PA Dept. of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Krancer (one of our personal favorites) representing the views of Mitt Romney against Kathleen McGinty representing the views of President Obama. Unfortunately we only heard a small portion of that debate, but what we heard was intriguing.

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MDN to Attend Shale Gas Insight in Philly this Thu/Fri [Free]

MDN editor Jim Willis will attend Shale Gas Insight 2012 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, PA on Thursday and Friday, Sept. 20 & 21. He’ll be hanging out at the NGI Shale Daily booth (#433). If you’re an MDN reader, please stop by to say hello in person! Jim would like to meet you.

It seems, however, that more than just luminaries like Jack Welch (former CEO of GE), Tom Corbett (Governor of PA), Ted Koppel (former Nightline host) and the CEOs of Range, XTO and MarkWest will be there. Anti-drillers will also converge on the Convention Center in a spectacle they call Shale Gas Outrage, featuring minor celebrities like Josh Fox (of Gasland infamy), Bill McKibben (350.org), Sandra Steingraber (ecologist), and Doug Shields (former president of Pittsburgh City Council). Hey, it ought to be a real party!

Here’s what the Philadelphia Inquirer says about the upcoming event:

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MDN Map of NY Counties Likely to See Initial Fracking [Free]

NY Likely Counties MapMDN is excited to release an important new resource—a free map—to help you understand the situation in New York State with fracking. A copy of the map is embedded below.

In a nutshell, everyone is waiting (holding our collective breath) for the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to issue a final final final final version of new drilling rules (called the SGEIS) they’ve been working on for more than four years. Previous versions of the SGEIS were introduced but didn’t make the grade. This time, it’s really the final word.

Where will the first permits be issued? That’s what our map will help you figure out. And we tell you why.

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Washington Post Catches Up to MDN

May we toot our own horn? Today the Washington Post printed a story about newly discovered shale basins in the State of Maryland (see this Washington Post story).

If you read MDN, you would have read about it 10 days ago (see this MDN story).

We don’t always break the news, but we usually report it quite early. And we report only what’s important and relevant for those of you interested in the Marcellus and Utica Shale region. Thanks for reading MDN!

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MDN is Called Out by the Huffington Post [Free Access]

Mayweather vs. Pacquiao - Called OutHey, it’s not every day you get prominently mentioned in a Huffington Post article, so we thought we would bring it to your attention: A ‘War on Shale Gas’?

MDN editor Jim Willis has long admired the HuffPo and its founder Arianna Huffington. Certainly not for her (or its) political positions! But because Arianna had the moxie to pioneer a new form of media at a time when it was not easy to do so. We love free speech, we love a plucky attitude, and we love that the HuffPo has kicked the venerable New York Times’ derriere. The HuffPo passed the NYT in both traffic and revenue (for their web properties) a long time ago.

So when a contributor to the HuffPo takes a shot at MDN, you may find it weird or unusual that MDN would respond with accolades for the HuffPo. You shouldn’t. We just keep it honest and if you read this blog for any amount of time you already know that.

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Webinar Replay: John Hanger on Gas Drilling and Energy Choices

John_Hanger_1On July 12, former Sec. of the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection presented MDN’s first webinar, titled: The Truth About Gas Drilling and America’s Energy Choices. John spoke of his love of alternative energy sources—especially wind and solar—but he also spoke about the overblown criticism of natural gas drilling. He pointed out there are advantages and disadvantages to every form of energy, and if you say “no” to one form, you must say “yes” to another form.

Following the webinar John took a number of questions from the MDN audience. It was a lively and informative session. MDN subscribers can replay it below. A copy of the PowerPoint slides is also available for download below.

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Calendar of Events for Jul 2-15, 2012

Below are upcoming events for this week and next.

New York


Pennsylvania


    Webcasts/Online