Range & MarkWest File Legal Challenges to Cecil 2,500-Foot Setback
Last November, three of five supervisors in Cecil Township (Washington County), PA, voted to ban all new fracking via a new setback (distance from well to nearest structure) requirement of 2,500 feet (see Cecil Twp Supervisors Pull the Trigger on Frack Ban Via Setbacks). We said at the time, “Let the lawsuits begin.” Once again, MDN was prescient. Both Range Resources, the only driller in Cecil Township with wells or permits to drill, filed a legal challenge to the illegal setback ordinance (the first step before a lawsuit is filed). However, in a surprise move, MarkWest Liberty Midstream (MPLX) filed a second, separate legal challenge against the town ordinance in county court. Read More “Range & MarkWest File Legal Challenges to Cecil 2,500-Foot Setback”
In March 2024, we reported that two Democrats and one anti-drilling RINO who run Bucks County, PA government (a Philadelphia suburb) fell for the bait by Big Green and filed a lawsuit against Big Oil companies for supposedly, knowingly, causing the Earth to toast to a cinder (see 
BlackRock is the largest investment firm in the world, currently with $11.6 trillion of investments under management. Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, pushed the so-called ESG (environment, social, governance) agenda for years. What the left and people like Fink mean by ESG is don’t invest in or use fossil fuel energy (E), everything is racist (S), and the government is always right when Democrats are in charge (G). Fink stopped using the ESG term in 2023, although he continued to push the ESG agenda of divesting from fossil fuel companies (see 
On Friday, three leftist judges who sit on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (DC Circuit), one appointed by Joementia, one by Lord Obama, and a third by George H.W. Bush (Bush the 1st), threw out a rule the U.S. Department of Transportation had adopted during President Trump’s first term which allowed liquefied natural gas (LNG) to be transported by train. We warned you back in September the judges were signaling their intent to overturn LNG-by-rail during oral arguments (see 
Here’s a story that illustrates how the radicalized left continues to destroy jobs and the economy with its kneejerk reaction against *any* fossil fuel pipeline, no matter how large or small. Some five years ago, Dominion Energy announced the River Neck to Kingsburg project, a short 15 miles of 16” natural gas transmission main line that would run in an existing right-of-way with another pipeline along Old River Road near Pamplico in Florence County, SC. It was supposed to be built and flowing in 2022. Dominion still hasn’t built a square inch, thanks to the lawfare launched by the anti-fossil fuelers of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League. 
Yesterday, U.S. Senator Ed “Lackey” Markey (Dem from Mass.), a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, and Senator Jeff “Malarkey” Merkley (Dem from Ore.) reintroduced the Banning In Government Oil Industry Lobbyists (BIG OIL) from the Cabinet Act, which would prohibit the appointment of executive officers and lobbyists of fossil fuel entities or trade associations as the heads or political appointees of certain government departments that work on issues related to American energy policy for a 10-year period. Curiously, the bill does not include the same ban on radicalized leftists from Big Green in the 10-year ban. Can anyone say HYPOCRITES? 
A judge has dismissed New York City’s lawsuit seeking to hold Exxon Mobil, BP, and Shell liable for misleading the public about their products and claims that their commitment to renewable energy and fighting climate change are false. The case was so weak not even a Democrat judge appointed by Kathy Hochul could stomach it. In her ruling, Justice Anar Rathod Patel told the city it could not have it both ways. The city claimed its residents knew about mythical climate change and how it is caused by burning nasty fossil fuels. Yet the city’s lawsuit claims Big Oil has tricked people into using fossil energy with false and misleading advertising. Patel wrote, “The city cannot have it both ways.” Touché! 
Maryland is a sad state. It’s completely ruled by leftists who seek to impoverish its residents by forcing them to use expensive and unreliable renewable energy. There is actually some Marcellus/Utica shale under Maryland (in a couple of far-western counties), but the state outlawed shale fracking nearly 10 years ago when then-Gov. Larry Hogan (a RINO and Trump-hater) allowed a Maryland bill to become law that bans fracking in the state (see 
Nothing the Bidenistas do on their way out of power surprises us. The day after Christmas, when nobody was looking, the Bidenistas at the Department of Energy (DOE) published final “climate” regulations that ban most tankless natural gas water heaters. One industry analysis estimates that consumers will pay $450 more on average when purchasing new water heaters, thanks to the regulations. The DOE didn’t issue a press release or announcement or in any way announce the change. The sleazeballs tried to hide it. 
We can’t stop giggling. Last Friday, MDN brought you the news that the world’s largest investment firm, BlackRock, announced it had canceled its membership and participation in the Net Zero Asset Managers (NZAM) initiative (see 
Faced with the possibility of blackouts, Connecticut’s Democrat Governor, Ned Lamont, wants to keep his nuclear and gas-fired power plants. But Lamont isn’t interested in building more pipelines or new gas-fired plants. That’s a bridge too far for Lamont. He’s happy to allow the residents of Connecticut to continue paying some of (perhaps THE) highest electric rates in the country because, you know, global warming. Connecticut is heading over the renewables cliff into economic oblivion. Paying sky-high prices is A.O.K. for Lamont, but blackouts are not. Hence, his statements in last week’s State of the State speech were about keeping the nukes and gas the state already operates. 
We’ve read a number of articles warning the radical left is gearing up to launch a blizzard of lawsuits (i.e., lawfare) against the incoming Trump administration—particularly related to environmental and energy policies and regulations. It’s standard operating procedure for the left, which has taken to bastardizing our justice system in recent years. While the left often dreams about putting its political opponents in jail, not much has been done along those lines (see 
Last week, MDN brought you the great news that five of the six largest banks in the United States have now canceled their memberships in the awful Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), a group of woke banks under the umbrella of the equally terrible United Nations (see 
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, an extremist liberal, recently signed a bill into law that bans using carbon dioxide to frack wells in the state (see