Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel

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    Small Group of Old Hippies Oppose Shell Ethane Pipeline

    A small group boasting a big name, The Breathe Project, recently sent a letter to the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection proclaiming their opposition to Shell’s planned Falcon Ethane Pipeline–a 97-mile pipeline system with two “legs” that will feed Shell’s mighty ethane cracker plant now under construction in Monaca, PA. Right. So the DEP and Shell should simply give up on the $6 billion ethane cracker, which can’t operate without ethane to feed it–ethane that will flow through this pipeline. Of course the group’s opposition is for show, maybe for fundraising, and certainly not serious. The funny thing for us was in viewing a picture of some of the members of the group, standing around clutching signs that say SHELL FALCON PIPELINE with a big circle/slash through it. The group, when you look at them, is the geriatric squad. Old folks. In our opinion, they look like old hippies–people who likely protested the Vietnam War in the 60s and have now found their new reason for living–to defeat a small ethane pipeline. On Thursday a tiny protest of the Falcon Pipeline (under two dozen people) caught the interest of the Pittsburgh Business Times on a slow news day…
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    BLM Panders to Radicals, Cancels OH Wayne Natl Forest Auctions

    Wayne National Forest

    One step forward and two steps back. That’s the modus operandi of the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the DC swamp dwellers who run it. After 10 long years, BLM finally began to auction a small amount of acreage in Wayne National Forest (WNF) in 2016 (see BLM Launches Auction to Lease Wayne National Forest for Fracking). WNF is a “patchwork” of public land scattered among private land. Some 60% of the mineral rights below WNF are privately owned. Those mineral rights owners have been denied the use of their property rights for over a decade. BLM controls drilling on federally-protected lands like WNF. BLM eventually conducted four (we think it’s four) auctions with under 2,000 acres total. And yet BLM still refuses to let drilling commence (see BLM Blocks Eclipse from Completing Utica Well in Wayne Natl Forest). On August 7 BLM announced another auction, for a piddly 75 acres. A radical Big Green group (far far out of the mainstream) called the Center for Biological Diversity protested the auction, and on August 28 BLM canceled the auction “while an appeal is under consideration.” That’s all it takes. Throw some Big Green money at eager radical lawyers, and everything stops. That’s all the excuse BLM needs. Who the heck in the Trump Administration is in charge of BLM? And why is this happening during Trump’s watch??…
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    2 New Protesters Take to Trees in Va. to Stop Mountain Valley Pipe

    Tree sitters protest the Mountain Valley Natural Gas Pipeline, Sept. 5, 2018 (Photo courtesy Lauren Bowman)

    We thought we had seen the last of Big Green protesters with names like “Ink,” “Sprout,” “Red,” “Nutty,” “Fern” and “Decard” illegally sitting in the tops of trees (or on poles) in Virginia as a tactic to prevent Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) from cutting trees along the path of the pipeline. Nope. We have two more: “Lauren” and “Nettle.” Two youngsters (early 20s) have built themselves a make-shift tree house in Montgomery County, VA.–in the path of trees that are due to be cut down for MVP. Draping a banner that says, “No Prisons, No Pipelines” (whatever that means), the two nutjobs say they pick and choose which laws they want to obey. Which is called anarchy. But that’s their philosophy. They don’t agree with the law that says EQT Midstream has the right to build MVP, so they’re illegally attempting to stop it. As near as we can tell, they’ll have a long wait. Due to federal laws protecting bats and other so-called endangered species, MVP can’t cut those trees until November. At least that’s our understanding. At any rate, we now have two more protesters who will need to be starved or otherwise forced out the trees. When that finally happens (as it will), the police need to send a bill for their services to the protesters, not MVP…
    Read More “2 New Protesters Take to Trees in Va. to Stop Mountain Valley Pipe”

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    Riverkeeper Lawsuit Against Atlantic Sunrise Tossed by Fed Court

    In May 2016, three Big Green groups–THE Delaware Riverkeeper, Lancaster Against Pipelines and the Sierra Club (fueled by money from the William Penn Foundation and Heinz Endowments)–conspired and sued the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) saying the DEP erred in granting federal Clean Water Act “401” stream crossing permits for Williams’ Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project (see Dela. Riverkeeper Launches Lawsuit Against Atlantic Sunrise Project). It took nearly two and a half years, but yesterday the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit finally rejected the lawsuit. Although the lawsuit was frivolous and a long-shot to begin with, we’re glad to see it resolved. It’s never good to have these lawsuits hanging out there–especially since startup of Atlantic Sunrise is coming any day now, which will be the ultimate victory over these nutters (see Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline Slightly Delayed, Ready by Sept 10). Riverkeeper’s Maya van Rossum, who fancies herself the sole protector of the Delaware River, threw a snit fit…
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    NJ Towns Win Delay for Phase 2 of Garden State Expansion Pipe

    You win some, you lose some. Today we brought you the news that THE Delaware Riverkeeper and other radical groups lost their case opposing the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project (see Riverkeeper Lawsuit Against Atlantic Sunrise Tossed by Fed Court). However, the same court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, went the other way on a different Williams project. Last August two New Jersey towns sued in federal court, seeking to overturn a decision by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to approve Williams’ Transco Garden State Expansion pipeline project (see FERC Fights NJ Town Effort to Decertify Garden State Expansion). The project was created to address supply disruptions following Superstorm Sandy in 2012. By upgrading compressor stations and adding a new meter station, the Garden State Expansion project will supply an extra 180 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of natural gas to “a new delivery point on Transco’s existing Trenton Woodbury Lateral pipeline.” Two towns in Burlington County (Bordentown and Chesterfield) where some of the work would be done for Phase 2 of the project filed a lawsuit asking the Third Circuit to overturn FERC’s previous decision to allow the project. They also asked that permits issued by the New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) be revoked. Yesterday the court ruled that NJDEP erred by issuing permits for the project. However, the court ruled that the towns’ challenges to FERC’s order allowing the project lack merit (and were dismissed). So, a partial victory–but still more delays because of the ruling re NJDEP…
    Read More “NJ Towns Win Delay for Phase 2 of Garden State Expansion Pipe”

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    Responding to Sore Loser Antis re Shale Court Cases

    Blond Boy Crying

    Ever notice how antis get all hot and bothered when they lose a court case? They holler and scream and rant and rave. Some even lay down and roll on the floor like two-year-olds. The refrain is always the same: “The court sided with the natural gas industry!” But that claim is not true. The editorial writers at the Charleston (WV) Gazette-Mail recently penned an editorial that, in so many words, tells antis to grow up. They do an excellent job of pointing out the courts are not siding with the industry, they’re siding with the law. Which is a strange and unfamiliar concept for many snowflake antis who were never told “NO” by their parents…
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    Making Sense of Insane NY – How Radicals Pressure Cuomo re NatGas

    If you live in New York State, as MDN editor Jim Willis does, you often shake your head at the stupidity of our political leaders. Especially people like Gov. Andrew Cuomo. How could he, in good conscience, turn against natural gas and block pipelines, electric plants and fracking? Is he obtuse? Is he getting paid-off by someone? There has to be a reason for his obviously irrational behavior. What is that reason? We have, perhaps, a better understanding now. The radical left is well-organized–think Saul Alinksy, Obama and Hillary Clinton’s idol. Taking a chapter from Alinksy’s “Rules for Radicals” book, the green radicals in NY have organized themselves to pressure Cuomo. We’d call it highly organized and well-funded. The radicals have weekly meetings, plan strategy, and motivate groups of blind followers to show up and heckle Cuomo at public events. And guess what? Cuomo caves–every time. Like a house of cards. The radicals have found the magic formula to pressure Cuomo into doing their bidding. Andrew Cuomo is actually weak-willed. He’s a patsy for the green movement because he fears them, fears a public shaming by them. And so they have their way with him–every time. None other than a liberal Gannett reporter has outed Cuomo as a Big Green patsy…
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    Captain Planet Cartoon that Brainwashed Kids, Now a Foundation!

    You know, for years we’ve poked fun at green leftists, saying they were raised watching Captain Planet cartoons–and that’s what warped their brains. Little did we know how right we were in our jocularity! Captain Planet was a cartoon created and produced by Ted Turner & Barbara Pyle, airing from 1990-1996. Did you know that there’s now a foundation, endowed with big bucks, called The Captain Planet Foundation? No lie! It was set up in 2001, funded by Turner and other lefty whack jobs. This is what we’re up against folks. The Captain Planet cartoon, brainchild of radical leftist Democrat Ted Turner (Turner Broadcasting), intentionally brainwashed a generation of our children, planting kindergartenish, simpleton ideas into our children’s heads. Unfortunately some of our kids never grew up. Not intellectually. Some of them still harbor childish, immature ideas that corporations are out to “loot and plunder”–there’s a character in CP cartoons called Looten Plunder, no lie. Do you know how silly it looks to support a foundation based on a kid’s cartoon?…
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    NY Antis Gear Up to Oppose Zero-Emission Compressor Stn

    As we reported in March, Empire Pipeline, the midstream (pipeline) subsidiary of National Fuel Gas Company, filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build two new compressor stations along the Empire Pipeline–one in Tioga County, PA, the other in Ontario County, NY (see Empire Pipe Plans 2 Compressors in PA & NY to Move Marcellus Gas). Without building any new pipeline, the addition of these two compressor stations will allow an extra 205,000 dekatherms per day (205 million cubic feet/day) of PA Marcellus gas to flow through the Empire Pipeline system. The project, called Empire North Project, will provide much-needed natural gas for Upstate NY and Canada. It will also connect to the Tennessee Gas Pipeline, so who knows? Maybe some Marcellus molecules will find their way into New England too. Anti-fossil fuelers in NY are ramping up to oppose the project. Nothing new about that, unfortunately. The thing is, the proposed compressor station in Ontario County will have zero (yes, zero) emissions. It will use electricity instead of diesel or natural gas or other fuels–so there’s no smoke stack and absolutely nothing going into the atmosphere. Completely benign. And yet, because the compressor station will flow more “fracked gas” from PA flow through the pipeline, irrational nutjobs are opposing it. Talk about stupid. These people will protest and oppose an emissions-less compressor station that helps flow more natural gas, but they won’t actually give up their own natural gas! They won’t stop grilling with natural gas. They won’t stop heating and cooking with natural gas. They won’t stop cooling with natural gas. They won’t stop buying clothes and shoes made, in part, from natural gas (plastics). No. Everyone else has to do those things–not these ignorant, wine-tasting snobs from the Finger Lakes who want to block this emissions-less compressor station…
    Read More “NY Antis Gear Up to Oppose Zero-Emission Compressor Stn”

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    Advisory Panel Pressures Va. Gov. to Block 2 “Racist” Pipelines

    Here we go again. More talk from desperate liberals who irrationally hate fossil fuels, claiming the location of two pipelines in Virginia is “racist.” You didn’t know that an inert metal tube could be racist, did you? Yeah, it’s stupid and silly and beyond words–but there you have it. Our schools are doing such a poor job of educating our citizens, they grow up to believe in wild fairy tales and declare anyone (or anything) that is not their particular skin color must be racist. In Virginia, the Governor’s Advisory Council on Environmental Justice, is recommending to Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam that he should illegally (against federal law) rescind federal Clean Water Act permits that allow both the $6.5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline (Dominion Energy) and $3.7 billion Mountain Valley Pipeline (EQT Midstream) from crossing the state. The Advisory Council’s tortured thinking is that the pipeline runs through a few poor/black communities–so it MUST be racist. No mention of the fact that such pipelines actually benefit communities and individuals economically. Pipelines get no credit for economically benefiting nearby communities–they only get dinged for flowing an evil fossil fuel that supposedly causes man-made global warming…
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    Sierra Club Forces Thousands of Pipeline Workers Out of Work

    It dawned on us, reading yet another story about how EQT/Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) has laid off around half of the MVP workforce, perhaps up to 3,000 people (see FERC Lets MVP Restart Work on 25% of Pipe; MVP Lays off ‘Thousands’), that the headlines/stories have it wrong. We need to view this situation more accurately–for what it is. The Sierra Club and a few other radical Big Green groups who brought the lawsuit against MVP are the ones who bear responsibility for putting ~3,000 pipeline workers out of work. And that’s just for one project! Dads have been forced into the unemployment line. Workers’ children go to bed hungry at night. There is a rise in hopelessness. The Sierra Club is responsible for DESTROYING JOBS. Ever notice that the Sierra Club never actually creates any jobs (except for a handful of high-priced lawyers)? They are a jobs-destroying organization and it’s time for Americans to wake up and understand what’s really going on. Wake up and understand the damage being caused by the Sierra Club–to families, to companies, to entire communities…
    Read More “Sierra Club Forces Thousands of Pipeline Workers Out of Work”

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    Radicals’ New Strategy to Block Pipelines: State’s Rights

    Radical environmentalists who want to “keep it in the ground”–the “it” being fossil fuels–are emboldened by the actions of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo, you may recall, effectively blocked and stopped in its tracks the federally-approved Constitution Pipeline, in April 2016 (see NY Gov. Cuomo Refuses to Grant Permits for Constitution Pipeline). Radicals who want to block all fossil fuel pipelines are using Cuomo’s example as their “new” strategy to stop shale drilling. If there are no pipelines, there’s no drilling–it’s that simple. We find liberal antis’ embrace of “states rights” to be highly hypocritical. These radicals, many (most) of whom are socialists, LOVE LOVE LOVE big government. The bigger the better. But when big government (i.e. the feds) doesn’t do what the radicals wants it to do, the radicals then embrace small government–decentralizing regulatory authority and pushing it down the state and local level. Radicals are using the Cuomo strategy of denying Clean Water Act water permits to pressure other governors, like Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown–both extreme Democrat liberals. We spotted an National Public Radio column exploring antis’ new-found love of state’s rights. We have a few more thoughts about this issue…
    Read More “Radicals’ New Strategy to Block Pipelines: State’s Rights”

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    Anti-American Sierra Club, NRDC Get Funding from Russia

    “Hey Jim, we’re tired of reading your rants about antis. Get off it, will ya? Focus on the good news of where drilling and pipeline work is actually happening.” We sometimes get those kinds of emails. What those folks don’t seem to realize is that we are in a fight to the (economic) death with people who hold a dangerous philosophy. They are people who are, in part, funded by Russia (as you’ll see below), working against America’s best interests. They are, in a word, anti-American. And we’re outing them for who they really are. Exposing them to the light of day. Yes, it is important to beat the drum, frequently, to bring to your attention just how the fight is going and who’s engaged in this fight–so you know why it takes so long to drill a well or build a pipeline. Why landowners don’t see more drilling sooner. Why natural gas and NGLs and oil can’t get to market, or get to markets that pay more. There is a reason, and it’s because of groups like the NRDC and Sierra Club…
    Read More “Anti-American Sierra Club, NRDC Get Funding from Russia”

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    4th Circuit Rejects Sierra Club Request to Block Atlantic Coast Pipe

    In something of a twist, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals elected NOT to officially shut down all construction of the 600+ mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project. You may recall the Sierra Club and several other anti-American Big Green groups convinced the Fourth Circuit to overturn permits granted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) granted to ACP to cross the Blue Ridge Parkway (see Federal Court Stops Works on Some (All?) of Atlantic Coast Pipe). The rolled-back permits affect some 100 miles of work. Shortly after the Fourth Circuit decision, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) told Atlantic Coast to shut down all construction everywhere (see FERC Shuts Down ALL Work on Atlantic Coast Pipeline). FERC’s shut-down is expected to be temporary. Meanwhile, back at the litigation ranch, the Big Green groups asked the Fourth Circuit to shut down all construction on ACP until the lawsuit plays out–over a period of years. It was to that request the court said no…
    Read More “4th Circuit Rejects Sierra Club Request to Block Atlantic Coast Pipe”

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    Black Baptists Join Yoga Cult to Oppose Atlantic Coast Pipe

    Although the 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline, being built by Dominion Energy, is currently idled with no construction due to a directive from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), some communities along the route of the pipeline are still agitating and protesting against it. In one of the more bizarre cases, a black Baptist pastor is whipping up his congregation against the project in rural Buckingham County, VA. But that’s not all. The black pastor is joining forces with a nearby commune (cult?) in Satchidananda Ashram-Yogaville. The Baptist pastor had himself a religious experience when he visited Yogaville, pronouncing their views on religion (opposite of his own) just fine with him–because they both hate the pipeline. Looks like politics comes before God for the good pastor and his congregation…
    Read More “Black Baptists Join Yoga Cult to Oppose Atlantic Coast Pipe”

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    Eco-Nuts File FERC Rehearing Request for Pipe Under Potomac

    Anti-fossil fuel nutters are on a holy mission to stop a 3.5-mile, 8-inch pipeline from being built under the Potomac River by Columbia Gas, from Maryland to West Virginia (see Maryland Antis Oppose 13th Pipeline Under Potomac as “Dangerous”). The pipeline will be built to feed a larger pipeline project from Mountaineer Gas called the Eastern Panhandle Expansion–a pipeline to deliver Marcellus/Utica natural gas via local distribution channels to a new industrial facility in Berkeley County, WV, and to provide gas to other local businesses and residents in the Tri-State area. Mountaineer began building their project in March (see Mountaineer Gas Begins Work on Morgan County, WV Pipeline). Phase one of the Mountaineer project is done and they’re now working phase two. In July, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved Columbia’s pipeline-under-the-Potomac project to feed the Mountaineer project (see FERC Approves Pipeline Under the Potomac River from Md. to WV). Antis were enraged. Here’s the inconvenient truth that mainstream news organizations fail to report: This tiny 3.5-mile pipeline will be Columbia’s 13th pipeline under the Potomac! Yet antis insist THIS is the one pipeline that will explode and contaminate the Potomac and make the water flowing down the muddy Potomac undrinkable for millions. Total BS. Antis have just filed a request with FERC to “rehear” (i.e. reconsider) the decision to approve the pipeline under the river. Once FERC officially denies that request (as they surely will), antis are then free to file a lawsuit challenging the project with the U.S. Court of Appeals…
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