We thought radical leftists, like Maya van Rossum aka THE Delaware Riverkeeper, loved the heavy hand of Big Government. It appears she and her ilk only love CERTAIN Big Government agencies, like the federal EPA–those they can influence toward their radical anti-fossil fuel agenda. THE Delaware Riverkeeper is attacking a government agency–the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission–the agency charged with reviewing and approving (or not approving) interstate pipeline projects. Maya and company sued FERC on Wednesday with the sole purpose of shutting down the entire agency by defunding it. Delaware Riverkeeper filed their lawsuit against FERC in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia–one of the most liberal jurisdictions across the country. The lawsuit claims FERC can’t objectively make decisions about projects like the Penn East Pipeline (running from the Wilkes-Barre area to New Jersey) because FERC derives some of its operating revenue from the projects it either approves or does not approve. That’s its rationale for attempting to shut down an entire agency of the federal government. This is Riverkeeper’s last ditch “Hail Mary” effort to stop the Penn East Pipeline project… Read More “THE Delaware Riverkeeper Sues FERC, Tries to Close it Down”
It looks like students at the University of Pittsburgh aren’t the only the only ones who are devoid of intelligence (see Pitt Brats “Demand” Endowment Divest from < 1% Fossil Investments). You can now add a group of Democrat lawmakers in New York State’s Senate and Assembly to the list of fools. Some two dozen Democrat lawmakers want State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli (radical Democrat), the sole trustee in charge of investing the state’s public workers pension fund (worth $178.3 billion), to sell any investments the fund has in companies that engage in extracting fossil fuels. Why? Because they believe in the fairy tale that burning fossil fuels causes Mother Earth, whom they worship, to heat up. Never mind global warming isn’t actually happening and hasn’t been happening for nearly 20 years (see Inconvenient Global Warming Fact: Avg Temp Hasn’t Risen in 18 Yrs)–it’s what you can make people believe that counts… Read More “NY Lawmakers Want State Pension Fund to Divest from Fossil Fuels”
There was a ton of news coming out of the trial two Dimock families have brought against Cabot Oil & Gas in Scranton, PA yesterday. But you wouldn’t know it if you read the Democrat-controlled (and anti-drilling) Scranton Times-Tribune–the newspaper of “record” in the very place where the trial is being held. They’ve quit writing about the trial because the news is so bad for anti-drillers. Both Scott and Monica Ely testified and under cross examination their testimony was obliterated–their claims exposed as lies. Here’s the latest from FrackNation filmmaker Phelim McAleer who has been following the trial from the beginning, and from Natural Gas Now… Read More “Dimock Trial Update: Scott & Monica Ely’s Testimony Destroyed”
THE Delaware Riverkeeper, Maya van Rossum, has staked much of her credibility on stopping the PennEast Pipeline. The PennEast, as you may recall, is a $1.2 billion, 114-mile, 36-inch diameter pipeline that will deliver approximately 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from the Marcellus gas fields of northeastern PA to locations in southeastern PA and across the border to Trenton, NJ (see PennEast Pipeline Files Official Application with FERC, Antis Mad). It’s a pipeline, buried in the ground and after a few years no one even knows where it’s buried without calling 811. And yet van Rossum and her ilk vehemently (we’d say irrationally) oppose it for one reason: it flows a fossil fuel through it. And so she’s staked her own credibility, and the credibility of the organization she leads (with Big Green money backing it) by stopping the PennEast. One way she’s trying to slow it down is by registering children as “intervenors” with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the organization charged with reviewing and approving the project (see Delaware Riverkeeper Scams FERC in Review of PennEast Pipeline). Her latest angle of attack? Conduct a 6-hour “workshop” to train people as “volunteer monitors” to “document natural features that would be in jeopardy” from the pipeline–whatever that means… Read More “THE Delaware Riverkeeper Hosts Class to Stop PennEast Pipeline”
What happens when anti-drilling lib Dems, like PA Gov. Tom Wolf, get their way? Revenues dry up and the lib Dems have to raid other sources to make up for it. And that’s just what’s happening with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). Tom and the Dems made a big deal about not leasing nor allowing any more drilling on or under PA state lands. In fact, one of the first things Wolf did upon taking office in early 2015 was to slap a moratorium on any new state land drilling (see PA Gov Wolf Signs Exec Order to Ban Drilling Under State Land). What followed? No more lease payments for the DCNR, and royalties have fallen dramatically on land previously leased and drilled on/under. Now the DCNR faces a budget shortfall of $51 million–because of no new leases courtesy of Wolf. Wolf’s solution? Steal $61.3 million from the “general fund” to prop up DCNR. Typical… Read More “PA Gov. Wolf Bans Leases on State Land & Busts DCNR Budget”
Starting this week the sugar maples along the path of the Constitution Pipeline will come down. MDN previously told you about the Holleran family in New Milford, PA who make maple syrup by tapping the trees on their five acres of land (see Maple Syrup Farm in Path of PA Pipeline, Antis Make Most of It). While it’s unfortunate that Williams, the builder of the pipeline, could not find an alternate route (they did try), and unfortunate that media reports say up to 80% of their maple trees (~200) will need to be cut, we’re not sympathetic. The Hollerans have steadfastly refused any kind of offer from Williams to compensate them, instead aligning themselves with some of the most radical of radical anti-drillers in a publicity quest to pressure Williams to stop. It didn’t work and now a federal judge is telling the family if they prevent the trees from coming down, starting today, they’re going to the clink… Read More “Judge Tells NEPA Family to Let Williams Cut Maple Trees, Or Else”
In January 2015 (over a year ago) the radical antis of the Athens County Fracking Action Network (ACFAN) in Athens County, OH filed an appeal with the Ohio Oil and Gas Commission opposing a permit issued to K&H Partners to drill a new/second wastewater injection well in Athens County (see Athens County, OH Anti-Drillers Sue to Stop New Injection Well). The Oil and Gas Commission rejected the complaint because, they said, they don’t have jurisdiction over permits to drill wells. The case was appealed to county court and last week the county court judge sided with the Oil and Gas Commission. That is, ACFAN’s request to overturn the permit to drill the well has been rejected. The next move by ACFAN losers is to appeal it to a higher court–the 10th District Court of Appeals. No word yet if they want to waste their money on an appeal. However, they appear to have endless resources from Big Green groups to keep them going with endless lawsuits… Read More “Athens, OH Antis Lose Appeal in County Court re Injection Well”
This is how retarded (yes, we’re using the “r” word) students are at the University of Pittsburgh. We use the “r” word because something has retarded or stunted their intellectual growth. They are substandard–stupid–dumb. How else can you explain why spoiled rotten brats attending Pitt are “demanding” that the university divest their endowment from fossil fuels? The Pitt endowment is $3.6 BILLION. How much of that is invested in dirty, filthy, evil fossil fuel companies? $26 million. That’s 0.007 of the fund (seven tenths of one percent) invested in fossil fuels. It’s a rounding error. Fossil fuel insanity is rampant on the campus of Pitt. Stay away or you may catch it too!… Read More “Pitt Brats “Demand” Endowment Divest from < 1% Fossil Investments"
What is it with Democrats? Are they congenitally anti-drilling? Last week Michigan Democrats introduced a bill that would ban all hydraulic fracturing in the state. But just in case fracking still happens, the bill empowers local municipalities regulate it, and the bill requires wells to be at least a mile away from “sensitive locations” like schools, hospitals, homes and public parks. That is, don’t bother drilling anywhere. Michigan Dems may want to visit Pennsylvania where there are schools with their own gas wells sitting right outside of classroom windows, and hospitals that allow drilling on their property. There have been no ill health effects, and those organizations have reaped millions of dollars in revenue. It seems Dems only want money to slide through their fingers first (the way they derive and hold on to power). Tell your local Michigan House member to vote no on this idiotic bill… Read More “Democrats in Michigan Introduce Bill to Ban ALL Fracking”
There’s been an interesting twist in pack of so-called “nuisance” lawsuits filed against Antero Resources in West Virginia (see Scores of “Nuisance” Lawsuits Against WV Drillers Combined). As we reported, more than 200 residents in WV (likely those who don’t own the mineral rights under their land) began filing “scores” of “nuisance” lawsuits over the past couple of years against Antero Resources and Hall Drilling, in places like Doddridge County. The lawsuits claim excessive traffic, odors and noise from nearby drilling make it “impossible” for them to enjoy their homes. The individual lawsuits were rolled up into one mega lawsuit that, at the time, sat before the WV Mass Litigation Panel. More recently it seems the mass lawsuit was transferred to Ohio Circuit Court (see More People Pile on Antero, Seek to Join Mass “Nuisance” Lawsuit). The strategy by anti-drillers is to form a piranha-like school of fish to attack a large mammal and kill it with thousands of tiny bites. But a problem has appeared for the antis. A bill was just introduced in the WV Senate on Feb. 4, Senate Bill (SB 508) that defines what, exactly, a nuisance is for the purposes of such lawsuits. In other words, legislators are about to plug a hole being exploited by antis–and the antis are squealing like stuck pigs… Read More “WV Senate Bill Stops Frivolous Nuisance Lawsuits Against Drillers”
A Philadelphia judge for the Court of Common Pleas (low-level court in PA) has ruled in favor of the anti-drilling Clean Air Council against Sunoco Logistics Partners and their Mariner East 2 pipeline. The ruling is nothing more than “this case has merits” (in the eyes of the judge) and can proceed. The case itself is challenging the right of Mariner East 2 to use eminent domain against landowners in building the new pipeline. The Clean Air Council’s argument is that since most of the natural gas liquids that will flow through the pipeline will get exported or otherwise not used in PA itself, that moves Mariner East from being a public utility with eminent domain power to an interstate pipeline more properly reviewed and permitted by federal authorities. It’s a delay tactic, because if Mariner East 2 were to come under the aegis of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and eventually permitted, they would also be entitled to use eminent domain. But a FERC review would take years. Which is what the Clean Air Council wants. Here’s the latest minor setback for Sunoco, whose eminent domain has been upheld in other PA courts and who is beginning to clear trees for the Mariner East 2 pipeline right now… Read More “Philly Judge Says Case Against Mariner East 2 Can Proceed”
Two days ago we told you about a three-year study conducted at the University of Cincinnati that looked at fracking and its potential affects on water wells in five Ohio counties. The research found no evidence that fracking had led to any kind of water well contamination (see Antis Not Happy with Results of OH Fracking Study They Funded). We now have a bit more to the story. The two anti groups that funded the research, the Deer Creek Foundation in St. Louis and the Alice Weston foundation from Cincinnati, abruptly stopped funding the study when they got the preliminary (and as yet, unpublished) results. The foundations thought they had bought and paid for a particular outcome, and when that didn’t happen, they withdrew their money and presumably will now support someone they can buy off. Here’s an update on this developing story from the Ohio Oil and Gas Association… Read More “Anti Groups Abruptly Cut Funding for OH Fracking Study”
Hollywood stars are some of the dumbest people on the planet. We’ve seen it again and again. They glom onto a “cause” either to boost their own sagging careers (get their name into the press again), or because they have an otherwise empty and meaningless life, or because–who the heck knows why? They certainly aren’t experts–although they pretend to be. Susan Sarandon and Yoko Ono joined the anti-fracking movement and rode a fossil-fuel-belching bus from New York City up to Susquehanna County, PA two years ago to “tour” the fracking fields of northeastern PA (see Looney Toons Anti-Fracking Celebrities Visit Montrose, PA). Another Hollywood nutjob is James Cromwell, who played Zefram Cochrane (mythical creator of the warp engine) in the 1996 movie Star Trek: First Contact (one of our favs). Cromwell, a New York City resident, owns a home in upstate, in Orange County. A natural gas-fired power plant is scheduled to be built near his summer home and he’s been protesting, to the point of getting himself arrested in December (see Actor James Cromwell Arrested Protesting NY Power Plant Site). Cromwell has been unsuccessful in stopping progress on the power plant. Apparently he’s in a down cycle right now with his career, and he was reading the newspapers and noticed a story we also noticed (and highlighted) last Friday–an anti-drilling family trying to stop a pipeline from clipping a few maple trees on their property (see Maple Syrup Farm in Path of PA Pipeline, Antis Make Most of It). Cromwell decided to take a Friday drive to visit the five acre plot and lend his name to their cause. Thing is, he admitted he’s essentially clueless about the whole thing–but since it’s a natgas pipeline, and he now hates natgas, what the heck. It only took him maybe two hours to drive from his upstate home to Susquehanna County to pay some fellow antis a visit… Read More “Actor James Cromwell Admits He’s Clueless, Fights Pipeline Anyway”
The latest focus of the war, and it IS a war, over the use of fossil fuels, focuses on pipelines. Anti-fossil fuel radicals admit their hatred of fossil fuels is driving them to try and (1) delay and (2) deny permits for pipelines to get built. Particularly in the northeast. Emboldened by their success in pressuring Barack Hussein Obama to deny a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, antis in the northeast are working overtime to try and scuttle a number of natural gas pipeline projects. One of their favorite targets is the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Antis are slowing down regulatory approvals by filing thousands of comments, registering as “intervenors,” and by targeting FERC itself, encouraging investigations into the agency. Typical bullying behavior that we’ve come to expect from them. The fossil fuel haters strategy is laid out in the pages of the Washington Examiner… Read More “Pipelines the New Battle Against Fracking in the Northeast”
We’ve often said that pipelines should not be allowed to use eminent domain. But what about when there’s no other choice? What if there are one or two holdout landowners whose land over which a pipeline must travel if it is to get built at all? In those cases, pipeline companies are left with no other choice but to invoke eminent domain. Williams, in planning and now beginning to build the Constitution Pipeline from Susquehanna County, PA into New York to Schoharie County, NY, has bent over backwards, forwards, and sideways to accommodate landowners along the proposed route. In fact Williams has changed more than half of the route in response to requests from landowners. Williams is, today (Feb. 5), beginning to selectively cut down trees along the route–in Pennsylvania for now (New York is next). There’s one small portion of the route Williams wanted to avoid but could not–running through a stand of maple trees. The owners of those trees have aligned themselves with some of the most radical of radical anti-drillers to oppose the pipeline and they are now running a public relations campaign to attempt to try and create a public uproar. We at MDN do NOT sympathize with them–for a number of reasons… Read More “Maple Syrup Farm in Path of PA Pipeline, Antis Make Most of It”
