Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel

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    NG Advantage Virtual Pipe “Done Deal” in Broome County, Antis Stymied

    MDN recently told you about a proposed “virtual pipeline” (i.e. trucking system) coming to MDN’s neighborhood. NG Advantage wants to build a new compressor station and tap into the Millennium Pipeline where it crosses the Chenango River near Port Dickinson, a suburb of Binghamton, in Broome County (see NG Advantage Virtual Pipeline May be Coming to MDN’s Backyard). NG already has three businesses lined up to buy CNG (compressed natural gas) from the project. So-called “virtual pipelines” compress natural gas and load it onto tanker trucks, and then distribute that gas to businesses that are not fortunate enough to be located near a natgas pipeline. It’s a cool concept that bypasses anti-drilling objections to pipelines. However, virtual pipelines have one negative side-effect for local residents: lots of truck traffic. Fenton’s Planning Board recently approved the project and although we thought it wasn’t quite yet a done deal, apparently it is a done deal, as a small group of antis learned earlier this week at a Town of Fenton meeting. Town of Fenton Planning Board approval is all that’s required. The Fenton Town Board has no say in the matter. It’s “a done deal” according to a town official speaking at the meeting. MDN friend Vic Furman attended the meeting and filed a report. Vic says he faced down the antis following the meeting with some hard truth: the reason they now have to live with this virtual pipeline and the traffic it will generate…is because they objected to an in-the-ground pipeline (the Constitution). Vic said they grudgingly agreed that he’s right…
    Read More “NG Advantage Virtual Pipe “Done Deal” in Broome County, Antis Stymied”

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    Funny: Anti-Fracking Copycat Protest Camp in OH Lasts One Weekend

    We’ve all heard and read about the massive protest camp that formed in North Dakota (see Dakota Access Pipeline Protesters Turn Violent; Coming Here Next?). When they finally left their illegal encampment, they left behind an ecological disaster–mountains of garbage–sticking federal taxpayers with a $1.1 million bill to clean it up. It cost the citizens of North Dakota $33 million in police, fire and safety personnel costs over the course of a year. And in the end–nothing. The pipeline is online and flowing oil even as you read this. It was all for nothing. One (of many) flashpoints in the Marcellus/Utica in recent months has been the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) auctioning of federal land in Wayne National Forest (WNF) to allow Utica drilling to begin there. WNF is a patchwork of mostly private, and some federal, mineral rights ownership. The little bit of land leased by the BLM will allow drillers to form units (with adjacent private land) big enough to drill under. Once again out-of-town/paid protesters planned to descend on WNF to protest the BLM sale of land there. It was billed as the next Dakota Access Pipeline camp. These out-of-towners were going to dig in like chiggers and stay for the duration, to make their point. What actually happened? A few showed up and camped for one weekend–then left. In other words, it was an “epic fail”…
    Read More “Funny: Anti-Fracking Copycat Protest Camp in OH Lasts One Weekend”

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    Attack of the Clones: 10 PA Legislators Use Fractivist Form Letters

    It seems the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has some air cover in its war against the Marcellus Shale industry (see Unmasking PA DEP’s War on Shale via Methane Regulations). The DEP has support from 10 PA legislators who have become fractivist tools by all using the same form letter/template in writing to the DEP. It’s really kind of funny. Below we have a copy of all ten letters so you can see for yourself. The letter signers (since they didn’t actually write them) are from eight PA House Democrats (Dom Costa, Dan Frankel, Robert Freeman, Patty Kim, Stephen Kinsey, Daniel Miller, Greg Vitali, Jake Wheatley), and from two PA Senate Democrats (Art Haywood, Sharif Street). Each form letter starts the same way: “It is critical that as a Commonwealth we continue our efforts to protect our residents and the environment from emissions associated with natural gas drilling.” And the drivel goes on from there. Oh, each one varies a word here or there, but make no mistake, this is form letter fractivism, plain and simple. Look for yourself at the Attack of the Clones…
    Read More “Attack of the Clones: 10 PA Legislators Use Fractivist Form Letters”

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    Youngstown Antis Float New Ballot Measure to Rig Elections

    Anti-fossil fuel agitators in Youngstown, aided and abetted and whipped into a frenzy by the radical Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF), have grown tired of losing. Six times now they have gotten enough signatures to put a so-called Community Bill of Rights (i.e. anti fracking) measure on the ballot for voters. And six times they have lost. As we reported in May, the nutters are making another run at it, placing an anti-fracking measure on the ballot for the seventh time. But this time there’s a twist–they want to legalize illegal actions of “civil” disobedience (see Youngstown Antis Seek to Legalize Anarchy with 7th CELDF Petition). That is, they want to break the law but not be held accountable for their actions. Now comes word the nutters aren’t stopping there. They plan to put a second measure on the Youngstown ballot in November. Both measures are loaded with anti-democratic regulations that would, if enacted, eliminate free speech by capping the amount of money that can be spent to campaign against their ballot measures. Nothing better than a loaded deck of cards when you sit down to play, right? The nutters also want to ban the use of money raised from wastewater treatment to be used on economic development projects. Let’s sum it up this way: Youngstown antis lose every time they float ballot measures related to fracking and fossil fuels, so know they want to change the rules (i.e. laws) to stack the deck in their own favor. What they can’t get at the ballot box, they now want to get by force, in legalizing civil disobedience. What they want to bring to Youngstown is, in a word, anarchy… Read More “Youngstown Antis Float New Ballot Measure to Rig Elections”

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    DOPEs Get Ready to Fight 13 Mile Pipeline Near Cincinnati

    As MDN previously reported, Duke Energy needs to replace an aging pipeline, built in the 1950s, near Cincinnati, OH–or some people in Cincy will have to go without natural gas (see Hearings Scheduled for Proposed Duke Pipeline in Cincinnati). Duke has proposed a 13-mile, 20-inch pipeline along two potential routes. Both routes are opposed by antis, including a group calling themselves NOPE–Neighbors Opposing Pipeline Extension. We call them DOPEs–Dummies Opposing Pipeline Extensions. Will the DOPErs volunteer to shut off the natural gas to their homes and businesses if the pipeline doesn’t get built? Not on your life! Two public hearings have now been scheduled, one for June 15 and the other July 12. Ahead of those hearings, the Ohio Power Siting Board recently released a 71-page report outlining the potential impacts of the pipeline (full copy below). In the report, staffers conclude that Duke Energy’s proposed Alternate Route represents the minimum adverse environmental impact (the best route) when compared to the Preferred Route. The staff recommend that a number of conditions become part of any certificate issued by the Board for the proposed pipeline. DOPErs are busy reading the report and gearing up to fight the pipeline at the two upcoming public hearings… Read More “DOPEs Get Ready to Fight 13 Mile Pipeline Near Cincinnati”

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    Sec. Perry: Obama Talked Clean Energy, Trump Will Actually Do It

    So often, what passes for “action” in the land of liberal Democrats is talk. As long as you mouth the right words, and as long as your intentions are “good,” that’s good enough. They never seem to be held to the standard of evaluating whether or not all of their hot air actually *produces* the intended result. The Obama administration was full of that kind of well-intentioned talk–but no results to show for all of their talk. Take the jobs and economy-killing Paris climate treaty as an example. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry said, in a recent editorial, that Trump’s decision to pull the US out of the Paris agreement is the right decision, one he fully supports. In responding to the hysterical Chicken Little “the sky is falling” enviro weenies now running around apoplectic about Trump’s action in ending a very poor agreement, Perry said: “Our work and deeds are more important than unenforceable words in a nonbinding agreement. Rather than preaching about clean energy, this administration will act on it.” Lib Dems just hate it when the truth is exposed for all to see… Read More “Sec. Perry: Obama Talked Clean Energy, Trump Will Actually Do It”

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    Antis Ask Army Corps of Engrs to Yank Rover Pipeline Blanket Approval

    Several radical environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, Michigan Residents Against the ET Rover Pipeline, and the Ohio-based nutters at FreshWater Accountability Project filed an official request with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to pull the Corps’ issuance of a “blanket” approval for the Rover Pipeline to use underground horizontal directional drilling (HDD) and instead require Rover to get a permit for each of the 45 bodies of water they intend to drill under with the technique. Which would, of course, bring the project to a halt–the intended outcome by the radicals. The groups are attempting to capitalize on several leaks experienced by Rover using HDD, including a 2 million gallon drilling mud spill in April that continues to generate headlines today (see OH EPA Says Diesel Fuel Found in Rover 2M Gal Drilling Mud Spill). So far the Corps is keeping mum, only acknowledging receipt of the request. Here’s a bit of news you won’t get in mainstream media: Rover continues to use HDD actively, every day, even now. Yes, HDD activity in a few locations (under waterways) has been halted, but HDD activity continues in 23 other locations. In addition to the news about the request by anti groups to the Corps, we’ve pulled the latest weekly construction report from Rover, embedded below… Read More “Antis Ask Army Corps of Engrs to Yank Rover Pipeline Blanket Approval”

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    As Deadline for Mountain Valley Pipe Final EIS Nears, Antis Squirm

    Local anti-drilling reporters in Virginia are breathlessly hyping the fact that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is set to issue a final environmental impact statement (EIS) on June 23 for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), a $3.5 billion, 301-mile pipeline that will run from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA. Antis are only too happy to provide a load of bull for local reporters to use in articles to scare the general public. For example, when talking about the pipeline, it’s always the “deeply controversial” Mountain Valley Pipeline. Of course it’s only “deeply controversial” to a few hundred people. Everyone else couldn’t care less. A bunch of pipeline opponents, who don’t like how the system works, want to change the rules. Funny, isn’t it, when the other side can’t win in the realm of public opinion, or in the courts, they resort to demanding the rules get changed–to favor them. Antis now want FERC to do something it has never done: Issue a revised or supplemental draft EIS, instead of a final EIS–which would restart a public comment period and seriously delay the project. Which is the point. We expect FERC will ignore this latest transparent effort to stop the project…
    Read More “As Deadline for Mountain Valley Pipe Final EIS Nears, Antis Squirm”

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    Is Virginia Governor Race a ‘Referendum on Pipelines’?

    Will Virginia in the south become what New York is in the north: a block to Marcellus/Utica gas leaving the region? Perhaps. At least, that’s what radical environmentalists are hoping is what happens. On June 13 Virginia will hold a primary. We recently wrote about its importance (see Fate of 2 Important Pipelines May Rest in Virginia Governor Race). Former Congressman Tom Perriello (far-left Democrat) says he’ll block both the $5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the $3.5 billion Mountain Valley Pipeline if he wins the primary and the general election. He may well win it. Antis are positioning this primary and the election as “a referendum on pipelines.” The brutal truth is that most people in the Old Dominion could care less about pipelines. It is only a small cadre of gentry-class horse farmers and radical anti-fossil fuelers who oppose the pipeline projects. But if you read local news, you wouldn’t know that. We’d like to say, “Hey, it doesn’t matter who wins, the law is the law and a governor can’t stop a federal pipeline project.” But then, we’re from New York where that is exactly what has happened! At least so far. Both the Constitution Pipeline (Williams) and the Northern Access Pipeline (National Fuel Gas Company) have been blocked by Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo for political reasons. Both pipelines have taken the state’s Dept. of Environmental Conservation to court, where it’s quite possible, even likely, the state will lose. However, nothing is 100% certain–and because of Cuomo’s actions, both pipelines are now years delayed. Our concern is that a major delay may happen in Virginia too, if the state elects someone like Perriello…
    Read More “Is Virginia Governor Race a ‘Referendum on Pipelines’?”

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    Pittsburgh Mayor Embarrasses Himself Following Trump Paris Speech

    Mayor Bill Peduto

    Last Thursday when President Trump committed to pulling the U.S. out of the horrible Paris climate treaty, he said this: “I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris.” What do you think he meant by that statement? We watched the speech, and we immediately burst with pride that Trump was putting our citizens first. But the radical/left/Democrat mayor of Pittsburgh thought he would make some political hay from Trump’s speech, saying he was “personally offended” by Trump’s remark. Why? Mayor Bill Peduto said Trump’s remark evokes “a dated image of Pittsburgh as an old city stuck in the 19th century, relying on steel and coal.” Do you think that’s what Trump meant? Of course not. And Peduto knows it. He later admitted he knew what Trump meant when he said, “Maybe he should have a speech writer that understands the difference between cities and regions and not just try to use cute iteration in order to make a point.” Uh, Mr. Mayor, we think the word you wanted to use is “alliteration.” Obviously Trump was using a play on words, an alliteration that used the “p” sound for an American city to compare it with Paris. An iteration means to repeat something. Perhaps the reporter misquoted the mayor? Regardless, Pittsburgh and some 100 other cities (and a number of lefty states) have piled on since the Trump Paris announcement to say “we’ll still do Paris anyway.” Fine. Does that mean you’re willing to transfer billions of dollars from your citizens, to give it away to other countries, to achieve a 0.17 Celsius reduction in “global warming temperatures” by the year 2100? Because that’s exactly what the Paris “treaty” was all about–soaking Americans and giving their money (and jobs) to other countries. If you think the Paris treaty was actually about reducing temperatures across the globe, you are sorely mistaken… Read More “Pittsburgh Mayor Embarrasses Himself Following Trump Paris Speech”

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    5 Climate Jihadists Disrupt Senate FERC Nominee Hearing

    Click for larger version

    Last Thursday the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a confirmation hearing for two nominees for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Neil Chatterjee, energy adviser to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Robert Powelson, a Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission member and president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners were put through their paces, questioned by Senators for two hours. Getting these men confirmed is a high priority–to restore a voting quorum. Right now there are only two (soon to be one) FERC commissioners. You need three minimum for a voting quorum. When filled, there are five FERC commissioners. During the hearing, extremists from Beyond Extreme Energy attempted to disrupt the hearing with yelling. They were taken out of the room and arrested. These are the same kinds of people Powelson previously called environmental jihadists–those who show up at FERC commissioners’ homes to intimidate them before votes (see Potential FERC Com. Powleson Calls Anti-Fossil Fuelers “Jihadists”). Powelson later walked back his “jihad” statement, sadly. By all accounts the disruptions by the jihadists at the hearing were minor and didn’t (as the nutters had hoped) slow down anything. One jerk handcuffed himself to a chair and the Capitol police whisked him out while the hearing continued, uninterrupted (see the image). Below are accounts of the hearing and what was said, along with a press release from Beyond Extreme Energy…
    Read More “5 Climate Jihadists Disrupt Senate FERC Nominee Hearing”

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    Major Gen. James “Spider” Marks Takes Aim at Lawless PA Protesters

    Major General James A. “Spider” Marks is the former Commanding General, U.S. Army Intelligence Center, and was the senior intelligence officer for the 2003 liberation of Iraq. Since retiring from the military, General Marks has led many business ventures in education, energy, and research, and served as the President and CEO of Global Linguist Solutions, a private company that provided linguistics services to the U.S. military in Iraq and was the largest employer of native Iraqis. He is an on-air national security, military, and intelligence contributor to CNN and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. Spider Marks doesn’t suffer fools gladly. In an op-ed written for the Harrisburg Patriot-News, Marks takes aim at so-called protesters (paid activists) who ran up a $40 million tab of destruction in North Dakota (paid for by taxpayers) with their so-called protest camp there, and who now are attempting to invade Pennsylvania and recreate the same chaos. Marks calls a spade a spade in his deft column… Read More “Major Gen. James “Spider” Marks Takes Aim at Lawless PA Protesters”

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    Radical Antis Ask FERC to Stop ET Construction on Rover Pipeline

    Radical environmental groups are seeking to stop the Energy Transfer Rover Pipeline project by using recent violations as leverage. The FreshWater Accountability Project, begun in Ohio after the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District signed agreements to sell water to the shale industry, along with Michigan Residents Against the ET Rover Pipeline, filed a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Wednesday asking the federal agency to stop all construction on Rover. The request will almost certainly go nowhere–but Rover’s own actions have opened the door to this action. We understand that accidents happen when drilling horizontally underground for pipelines and that sometimes you get an “inadvertent return” (leak) of drilling mud slipping up to the surface. But it’s tough to explain away a 2 million gallon leak (see Rover Pipeline Accident Spills ~2M Gal. Drilling Mud in OH Swamp). It’s also hard to ignore storm water runoff fouling farmers’ fields where Rover is digging trenches (see OEPA & Rover at Odds Over Storm Water Runoff, “Fine” Now $714K). It smacks of a rush job, and that gives the other side an opening in their quest to stop fossil fuel infrastructure projects like Rover… Read More “Radical Antis Ask FERC to Stop ET Construction on Rover Pipeline”

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    Radicals Protest Outside PA Senate Hearing on NatGas Benefits

    On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Senate Majority Policy Committee and Environmental Resources and Energy Committee held a joint hearing to examine the economic benefits natural gas production has brought the Keystone State. MDN friend David Spigelmyer, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, was present and let legislators know that PA has become the #2 natural gas producer in the country, and that remarkable feat has brought PA billions of dollars in investment. The investment in new or converted natural gas electric plants alone has reached $10 billion! Thad Hill of Calpine Corporation (nation’s largest generator of electricity from natural gas) also spoke. While the adults were inside talking about serious issues, children in adult bodies were outside misbehaving, as they typically do. Radicals (paid protesters) from Earthworks held a protest rally on the steps of the Capitol where they held up big, black balloons. Yeah, we have no idea what makes them tick either… Read More “Radicals Protest Outside PA Senate Hearing on NatGas Benefits”

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    Dela. Riverkeeper Loses Another Court Case Against Marcellus Pipe

    The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit slapped down THE Delaware Riverkeeper in yet another crushing defeat for the virulent anti-fossil fuel organization (and mouthpiece for the William Penn Foundation, its main funder). Even though Williams’ Transco Leidy Southeast expansion project went online some 18 months ago, Riverkeeper sued the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) some 14 months ago over its approval of the project (see Dela. Riverkeeper Sues FERC Again – Over Leidy Pipeline Expansion). Leidy Southeast was/is 30 miles of additional pipeline segments laid next to existing pipe, called loops, in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, along with upgrades at several compressor stations. The project bumped up the capacity of the mighty Transco pipeline by an extra 525,000 dekatherms of natural gas per day–enough natural gas to serve 2 million homes. The project means more Marcellus gas now flows south to new markets. Riverkeeper claimed FERC should not have approved the project until PA had issued federal 401 stream crossing permits under the Clean Water Act. It was a “procedural” objection. That is, Riverkeeper claimed FERC did things out of order and should be, we don’t know, shut down? Punished? Flogged? Prevented from doing it ever again? Riverkeeper also went after PA and NJ after they issued the 401 certificates, saying they shouldn’t have. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals (in Philadelphia) rejected that argument last August (see Court Rejects Dela. Riverkeeper Case Against PA DEP Pipe Approval). The new news is that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has now rejected Riverkeeper’s case against FERC. The justices said FERC is free to approve projects prior to states issuing 401 certificates because a project approval still doesn’t mean the project will get built–unless the states DO issue those 401 certificates. It all sounds rather complicated to follow. The short version is this: Delaware Riverkeeper lost yet another court case against a pipeline project…
    Read More “Dela. Riverkeeper Loses Another Court Case Against Marcellus Pipe”