Radical Enviro Groups Suing to Block Wayne Natl Forest Drilling
In December the Bureau of Land Management proceeded with an online auction for BLM-controlled land in Ohio’s Wayne National Forest (see 10-Yr Wait is Over, BLM Auctions Wayne Natl Forest Leases Today). The BLM plan was to auction 33 parcels totaling 1,600 acres. As it turns out, only 17 parcels totally 719 acres actually got auctioned (see BLM Auction Leases 17 Parcels, 719 Acres in OH Wayne Natl Forest). At the last minute the BLM withdrew 881 acres (16 parcels) because there were remaining issues with ownership title of the mineral rights. The 719 acres was all leased by noon and brought bids ranging from $2,000 to $5,000 per acre–a laughably small (but important) amount of acreage because it will allow drilling units to be formed with nearby private acreage. The BLM recently announced they will hold another auction in March (see BLM Leasing Another 1,186 Acres in Wayne Natl Forest on March 23). Progress! We suppose it’s not surprising that four radical environmental organizations–on the far outreaches of the environmental movement–have just issued a notice to announce they are suing to stop any drilling in WNF. Which four groups?…
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According to rumors floating around the Pennsylvania environmental wacko movement, today is the day the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) will issue the final permits needed by Sunoco Logistic Partners to begin construction of the Mariner East 2 NGL pipeline that will stretch across the entire state. Neither Sunoco nor the DEP would confirm the rumor, but the wackos are agitated and saying their “inside sources” (of which they appear to have many) are telling them it’s today. And what if it happens? According to Maya van Rossum (THE Delaware Riverkeeper), the antis will employ their two favorite tactics: Sue in court, and whip up the more radical folks in the movement into a frenzy so they “rise up in protest.” You know, like the “protesters” (i.e. criminals) did in North Dakota–the ones who fired shots at police officers, burned tires, and engaged in illegal actions to stop work on the Dakota Access Pipeline (see 
For whatever insane reason, some in New England, including the two U.S. Senators from Massachusetts (see today’s companion story) irrationally hate natural gas because it is a “fossil fuel.” These demented folks believe that by burning natural gas, more carbon dioxide (CO2) is pumped into the atmosphere and that increasing amounts of CO2 are causing the earth to warm up, catastrophically. At least that’s what they say they believe. The problem with their theory (libs always have problems because their theories never work out in reality), is that CO2 levels have decreased across the U.S.–because of the increased use of natural gas. Except for New England. Because New England is not using as much natural gas as other regions, making them rely on oil-fired electric plants, New England’s CO2 levels went UP in 2015! They not only pay more for electricity and energy than any other region of the United States, they’re using dirtier energy–all while claiming they love the environment and don’t want “dirty” natural gas. What idiots…
The PBS “reporters” at the taxpayer-funded StateImpact Pennsylvania, like Marie Cusack, are as biased as bias gets. The frustrating thing is that they pretend to be journalists–pretend to be unbiased. They are, instead, radical leftists with an agenda, and it leaks through with every article. Some articles more than others. Take, for example, Cusack’s recent article railing against Donald Trump and his first days in office–and how poor enviro wackos have a fight on their hands. We thought it would be fun to append Cusack’s article with some truth, so you have the full context–to see what she leaves out. Enjoy!…
In November 2015, MDN told you about Pilgrim Pipeline Holdings, developing an East Coast pipeline to carry refined petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel, heating oil, and jet and aviation fuel northbound from Linden, New Jersey to Albany, New York (178 miles). In addition, a second Pilgrim pipeline will carry crude oil from Albany south to NJ and other locations. Two pipelines, side by side, liquids flowing through them in different directions (see 
The nutjobs at the Sierra Club have done us the favor in identifying their next targets: 409 natural gas-fired electric plants and 83 pipeline projects either under construction or planned. We have both full lists below. (Handy lists for those who want to sell something to the builders of those projects!) Global warming nuttery has metastasized into full-blown insanity at the Sierra Club. Even though natural gas produces far less carbon and harmful emissions than other fossil fuels, the Sierra Club is focusing all of their money, time and resources to defeating anything to do with fossil fuels. If they got their way, they would stop an additional 31 gigawatts of electricity from coming online from gas-fired plants (many of them in the Marcellus/Utica region). They would also stop many M-U pipeline projects. Essentially, they want to force all of us back into the Stone Ages–without the benefit of plastics or the use of fossil fuels. Yes, it IS insanity. Below are not only the two lists (gas power plants projects and pipeline projects), but also a copy of the Sierra Club’s latest foray into Joseph Goebbels propaganda–a report called “The Gas Rush: Locking America into Another Fossil Fuel for Decades.” Real bizzaro stuff…
If we had a nickle for every time we’ve heard, read or written the sentiment, “If antis don’t want to extract ‘fracked gas’ anymore, why don’t they show us how it’s done”–we’d be rich! The point: without oil and gas, our modern way of life would cease. Stop. Kaput. No more. We are totally dependent on fossil fuels for our existence. Since New York Gov. Cuomo doesn’t seem to want nasty “fracked gas” coming into his state from Pennsylvania (witness his block of the Constitution Pipeline), perhaps PA and all other states sending natural gas to NY should shut the spigots off for a while. It’s fun to muse, what would happen if?… Well, we don’t have to wonder what would happen. We have a great example. In Central New York in January 1977 residents of Syracuse faced a blizzard and a shortage of natural gas. It got so bad factories, schools and other entities that use natural gas had to shut down. Here’s how it looked forty years ago in Syracuse…
One of the worst of the worst non-profit organizations that continues to fund anti-shale activities in the Marcellus/Utica is the William Penn Foundation. By all rights their non-profit (i.e. tax-free) status issued by the IRS should be revoked because of their overt support of anti-fracking initiatives. But we’re not holding our breath. MDN friend Tom Shepstone has written extensively about this odious organization and the many puppet groups it supports (see Tom’s article 
Anti fossil-fuelers are fit to be tied with the inauguration of Donald J. Trump. They’ve become hysterical–as in funny and as in their pronouncements that THE END is near. Trump signed Executive Orders on Tuesday to grease the skids for both the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Keystone XL Pipeline (see 
Make no mistake. When the Heinz Endowments, a left-leaning, big-moneyed nonprofit invests its money via grants into programs that have anything to do with shale drilling, it is for one purpose and one purpose only: to smear the reputation of fracking and to make oil and gas look bad. They fund all sorts of “research” efforts that mysteriously always come to the same conclusion: fracking is bad. Funny how that works. So it was with interest we noted they’ve purchased for themselves another academic researcher rather cheaply–just $48,000–with a mission to test water wells near fracking sites. The aim? To prove that fracking contaminates water wells. Which is the claim made by groups like Heinz for years–and has never been proven. Millions of wells fracked, with a small number where methane has migrated into those wells (a fixable condition). NEVER has there been chemical transmission from fracking into groundwater wells. But that doesn’t stop Heinz from trying to manufacture evidence. Here’s their latest effort…
Inspired by the criminal actions of eco-terrorists in North Dakota (see 
Regardless of what you think about so-called man-made global warming, you would think that scientists should be allowed to express their views on the topic without being hunted down and burned at the stake like a witch, reputationally speaking. Yet if a climate scientist dares to express misgivings about the actual data behind global warming, that is exactly what happens. Dr. Judith Curry, a highly respected climate scientist, recently resigned her tenured position at Georgia Tech–because of climate witch hunters. Dr. Curry started out as a man-made global warming true believer, but was shocked at the “Climategate” emails that show researchers with the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia were intentionally making up the numbers in an effort to prove their theories. False data. Lies. Distortions. Dr. Curry investigated and questioned climate orthodoxy, and for that, she has been hounded out of Georgia Tech. What is wrong with this picture? When did science become politics? When did simply asking tough questions become the basis for destroying someone’s reputation?…
Enough is enough. As MDN reported last June, anti-drilling zealots in Youngstown, OH filed a petition to place a frack ban resolution on the November ballot–for the 6th time (see 
Two radical Pennsylvania-based “environmental” groups are not exactly merging–but almost. One group is the radical PennFuture, which gave rise to such luminaries as John Quigley (fired as Sec. of the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection), John Hanger (left the state, former DEP Secretary, ran for governor last time, lost, supports legalizing pot), and Cindy Dunn (currently Secretary of Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources). PennFuture is tax exempt, yet it routinely engages in political activity in violation of its IRS 501(c)(3) status. The other group is Conservation Voters of PA, a 501(c)(4) advocacy organization affiliated with a political action committee (PAC). The two groups are combining certain portions of their operations–“policy, advocacy, and legal resources”–in an attempt to “hold legislators accountable, mobilize voters, and shine a spotlight on candidates’ records on clean air, water and energy issues.” Our view is that their organizations’ membership and donations are dwindling and this is two failing organizations clinging to each other so they don’t slip beneath the waves into oblivion…