Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel

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    Athens County Asks Gov Kasich & ODNR to Stop New Injection Wells

    Athens County, OH Commissioners have just passed a resolution calling for a ban on new injection wells in the county. The resolution has zero force and no weight of law–it’s not a legal document and if it were, it would be illegal. Only the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) can decide whether or not to issue permits for Class II injection wells in Ohio. Local municipalities have no say in the matter. But that doesn’t stop the nutters in Athens County from mouthing off (the thing they do best). Here’s their latest haughty communication requesting the Governor and the ODNR immediately and indefinitely refrain from issuing any more injection well permits not only in the People’s Socialist Paradise of Athens County, OH, but throughout the entire state of Ohio as well…
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    With Frack Ban Mission Accomplished, Joe Martens Leaves NY DEC

    Joe MartensA day after issuing the final nail in the coffin of fracking in NY (see It’s Official: Cuomo Bans Economic Opportunity & Prosperity in NY), the guy doing the nailing is leaving. Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens is leaving the DEC to go back to the anti-drilling Open Spaces Institute–the organization where he was employed before coming to the DEC. It certainly appears like the main purpose in hiring Martens was to slow down, and then stop the momentum to allow fracking in NY. Now that Martens’ mission has been accomplished, he’s ready to make more money again, working for an organization dedicated to stopping any kind of development on land–including and particularly oil and gas development. MDN has been around long enough to have seen Martens come, and now go. We’re proud to say from his very first day on the job we questioned his appointment and commitment to seeing that fracking happens in the Empire State (see our article from February 2011: Gov. Cuomo’s Nomination to Head the NY DEC: Will the Real Joe Martens Please Stand Up?). We’ve always suspected, and shared with you our suspicions, that Martens is anti-drilling. We were right–not that being right feels any better because Martens has royally screwed every landowner in our beloved home state…
    Read More “With Frack Ban Mission Accomplished, Joe Martens Leaves NY DEC”

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    MDN Interprets NEPA Editorial on Coal, Natgas, Electric Generation

    Sometimes you need a plain language guide to help you decipher the gobbledygook editorials issued by liberal newspapers. It’s like, what do they really mean? What are they trying to say? Why don’t they just use plain English to say what they mean? We spotted such an editorial in the Scranton Times-Tribune with respect to coal, natural gas, electric generation and so-called alternative energy sources, like wind. Below we’ve interpreted what the editorial writers really wanted to say in their otherwise indecipherable editorial…
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    It’s Official: Cuomo Bans Economic Opportunity & Prosperity in NY

    bannedLet the lawsuits begin! Yesterday the anti-drilling, anti-fossil fuel head of the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Joe Martens, did his master’s bidding (his master being Lord Andrew Cuomo, Earl of the Hamptons) by imposing an official, TEMPORARY (not permanent) ban on hydraulic fracturing in the Empire State. The document issued yesterday by Martens is called a Findings Statement (full copy below) and it provides the DEC’s official rationale for the action they are taking in not granting permits for high volume fracking in the state. News coverage is blaring the trumpets that New York has “banned” fracking. Well, yes, in a sense that’s true. But the implication is that it’s a permanent ban–which is not true. Far from it. Martens uses profoundly weak arguments in the Findings Statement to justify his political action. One of his central arguments is what fracking “may” do to water supplies. A few weeks ago the federal EPA, after four years of intense study, found fracking is perfectly safe for water supplies (see EPA Draft Report Says Fracking Doesn’t Pollute Groundwater Supplies). We’d be embarrassed to try and peddle this horse manure if we were Martens–but he’s shameless. One thing is for sure: landowners and their lawyers, who have had their property rights illegally stripped away by Cuomo and Martens, are reading the Findings Statement and preparing lawsuits even now…
    Read More “It’s Official: Cuomo Bans Economic Opportunity & Prosperity in NY”

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    Binghamton Newspaper Runs Anti-LPG Propaganda as “News”

    A well-known activist and anti-driller flying under the label of “reporter”–Tom Wilber–was actually paid to write six, possibly seven articles for the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin appearing in the print edition on Sunday. The so-called “Watchdog Report” in the P&SB takes aim at an underground liquefied propane storage facility proposed by Crestwood Midstream along the shore of Seneca Lake (in a depleted salt cavern) and is what laughably passes as “news” these days in the People’s Republic of New York–where the only “news” allowed in Democrat rags like the P&SN is bad news when it comes to the shale industry. In most newspapers the entire section appearing in the P&SB, which amounts to free advertising for the virulent anti-drilling group Gas Free Seneca, would properly be labeled as an “Advertisement” or “Advertising Supplement.” But not in the P&SB. Unsuspecting readers of the P&SB are treated to a couple of front page stories about “environmental concerns” about the very safe underground storage facility planned near Seneca Lake. When you look further in, the entire first section of the newspaper is jammed with more stories–six in all–plus a seventh that was almost certainly written by Wilber labeled as an “editorial” from the newspaper itself. Example of the extreme bias: one of the stories is about railroads, tossed in to create FUD–fear, uncertainty and doubt–about the LPG facility by stating that LPG from the Crestwood facility will be hauled by railroad over a creaky old railroad bridge through historic Watkins Glen State Park with its beautiful gorges and waterfalls. The image is what would happen if there was an accident and the train fell into the gorge. Of course Wilber doesn’t bother to report that carloads of really nasty, toxic chemicals traverse that same railroad bridge each week–it’s only LPG (simple propane that would evaporate) that has him concerned. Wilber calls it a potentially “epic hazard.” What a joke…
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    Medina County, OH Antis Trot Out Home Rule Ballot Measure

    In February the Ohio Supreme Court, once and for all, struck down so-called “home rule” legislation passed by local municipalities where anti-drillers are able to convince enough citizens to vote for it (see OH Supreme Court Strikes Down Home Rule in Gas Drilling Case). When it comes to creating local laws and zoning ordinances that prohibit or otherwise try to control oil and gas drilling, Ohio state law stipulates only the State regulates it–not towns and villages and cities. That’s the law, and that’s the law the Supreme Court upheld. So along comes Sustainable Medina County, a group of virulent anti-fossil fuelers, with a new petition to put yet another so-called home rule “bill of rights” measure on the ballot in November, this time in an attempt to stop the NEXUS pipeline. What would you call this new initiative in light of the Supreme Court’s decision? We’d call it stark, raving mad…
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    NY Anti-Drillers’ Fracking Jiggery-Pokery Fools Venerable BBC

    In April 2014 MDN told you about a crackpot group of low-level elected officials in New York State calling themselves Elected Officials to Protect New York, formed to spread lies about fracking (see 800 NY Officials Work Against Constituents to Ban Fracking). Most of the “officials” are either former officials, or occupy offices low-level offices, one step above dog catcher. It’s a laughable group of hard-left socialists who feel like they need a cause to justify their pathetic existence. We’d pretty much forgotten about them, they’re so inconsequential. But then this group, which has apparently grown to 850 members, sent a letter signed by 10 of their members to a town in northern England–Lancashire–to extol the dangers of fracking. They warned Lancashire to not allow fracking or it will lead to the end of civilization as they know it. Or something like that. Anyway, the venerable BBC picked up on it and made quite a fuss about this group of “New York City” elected officials warning tiny Lancashire about fracking. As it turns out, the BBC was either hoodwinked or intentionally decided to misrepresent the group in nationally broadcast news about the letter. Breitbart’s UK operation exposed the whole thing and quite frankly, it had us laughing out loud…
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    Dueling Rallies in Harrisburg, PA Over Severance Tax Turn Nasty

    An interesting contrast in rallies yesterday in Harrisburg, PA. As the July 1 deadline quickly approaches for Pennsylvania to approve a budget, there were two rallies at the state Capitol. The first was held by life’s producers–the people who actually create wealth in this country. It was populated by business leaders and those who work for businesses that support the Marcellus Shale industry. They were there to protest against PA Gov. Wolf’s 17.3% severance tax (often mischaracterized by Wolf and a sycophantic press as a “5% tax” on Marcellus gas). Businesses know that such a tax will effectively kill the industry and the jobs and economic impact that go with it, in the Keystone State. Then there was a second rally that followed the business/anti-tax rally. The second rally was held by the life’s takers–those who suck money from the producers. That is, teachers’ unions and their flacks who bleat and blat that stealing money from businesses “is for the children”–to justify their voracious appetite for other people’s money. The second group was there to protest in favor of a money-sucking, Marcellus-killing severance tax. Guess which crowd behaved like adults, and which crowd behaved like ill-tempered and undisciplined children, shouting down the other rally? No, you don’t really have to guess, do you?…
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    Radicalized Ohio U Students Vandalize Pipeline Construction Site

    Here is another story in our ongoing series of how people have become radicalized by the Big Green movement, turning into law-breakers in the name of saving Mother Earth. This latest story comes from a hotbed of radicalization–Athens, Ohio–where a small group of Ohio University students, complete with orange T-shirts with the slogan “OU Green Energy NOW!” on them, shoveled dirt back into a trench dug to lay a natural gas pipeline. They also wrapped construction equipment at the site with caution tape and plastered stickers on building materials at the site with labels saying “Recalled Due to Improper Energy Policy”. Once again we see a bunch of (in this case) mis-educated Ohio University students who grew up watching Captain Planet reruns, listening to liberal college professors, and believing every word of what they saw on Saturday morning cartoons and what they hear in the lecture hall–that mom and dad and Big Oil companies are destroying Mom Earth and the polar bears. That is, they’ve been brainwashed and now radicalized…
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    Mass. DPU Rejects Anti Group’s Request to Join Pipeline Hearing

    ENOUGH of these anti-pipeline, anti-drilling, dump-all-fossil fuels protesters and their strategies to stop pipelines in New England. That’s essentially what the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) said in refusing to allow the anti-pipeline group Pipeline Awareness Network for the Northeast (PLAN-NE) “full intervenor status” at a series of hearings the DPU will hold today, tomorrow and Friday to consider whether the contracts sought by the local gas distribution companies (local gas utilities) who want to get cheap, abundant and clean-burning Marcellus natural gas from Kinder Morgan’s proposed Northeast Energy Direct pipeline, are in the public interest. The DPU wants to concentrate on the real issues at hand and not be distracted and derailed by the antics of anti-pipeliners, so the DPU turned down PLAN-NE’s request…
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    The Envrionmental Radicalization of the Anti-Drilling Movement

    MDN is beginning to see a pattern. It dawned on us as we were recently listening to several news reports of why young people become “radicalized” and join forces with militant Islamists like those in ISIS (what we used to call Al-Qaeda). People who have become radicalized break laws. They often kill other people. They sometimes commit suicide by strapping bombs to themselves in an attempt to kill others. Sane people have a hard time understanding it. What drives these people to such extremes? What motivates them? Why do kids–some of them from America and other Western counties–become radicalized? Frankly, it usually (almost always) stems back to their childhood. Their heads have been crammed with liberal pap about hating America from a young age. People hate America because they hate freedom. As we were mulling this over, we had a revelation: It’s the same with some anti-drillers. In the same way some young people (and some older people) become radicalized and join ISIS, some are radicalized and join the “green” movement…
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    PA DEP Sec Quigley Creating His Own FracFocus; SRBC in Crosshairs

    crosshairsMore antagonism for the oil and gas industry, and more radical environmentalist philosophy, from the new PennFuture Secretary of the Dept. of Environmental Protection in Pennsylvania, John Quigley. (Once again, you have these Republicans to “thank” for his appointment: List of Republican Senators Who Voted to Confirm Quigley @ DEP). Last night Quigley announced at a radical enviro dinner in Philadelphia, hosted by the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, that although under the Act 13 law all Marcellus drillers must file a list of the chemicals used at each well site with the national registry FracFocus.org, that’s not good enough for Quigley. The Act 13 law also requires drillers to file the info with the PA DEP, so Quigley has decided the DEP will create it’s own online database/website to show the information (wasting taxpayer’s money). It’s all about being more “transparent” according to Quigley. We’d say it’s all about being a control freak, but we digress. Quigley also reiterated his absolute faith in the man-made global warming fairy tale, and he has ominously set his sites on the SRBC in northeastern PA…
    Read More “PA DEP Sec Quigley Creating His Own FracFocus; SRBC in Crosshairs”

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    FWAP Asks SEC to Investigate GreenHunter for False Statements

    The anti-fossil fuelers are getting desperate. They’re concerned that GreenHunter Resources, a fresh water and frack wastewater company operating in the Marcellus/Utica, may actually pull it off and begin to barge frack wastewater (brine, actually) down the Ohio River. MDN was the first to disclose that GreenHunter is going to push back against the ongoing delays coming from the Obama White House in pressuring the U.S. Coast Guard to delay granting permission to GreenHunter to barge brine. We analyzed and told you what’s happening–that GreenHunter is using the Coast Guard’s own regulations from 1987 against them, using the definition of oilfield wastes to apply to brine from shale wells (see GreenHunter/Coast Guard War of Words — MDN Explains It). Essentially GreenHunter is daring the Coast Guard to take them to court to try and stop them (a brilliant move). GreenHunter says they will begin barging in three months’ time (see GreenHunter Says OH River Wastewater Barging to Begin September). Along comes the virulent anti-drilling organization FreshWater Accountability Project (FWAP, which we pronounce “fuh-wop”) with their own twist to try and stop GreenHunter. FWAP has asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to investigate GreenHunter for making false statements to investors about their permission (or lack thereof) to begin barge shipments of brine…
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    New Coalition of Same Old Antis Opposes Atlantic Coast Pipeline

    A small group of partisan, liberal, left-wing Democrats pretending to be a huge group of “concerned residents” from “Virginia and West Virginia” have formed a self-important group called Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance to oppose the 550-mile, $5 billion Dominion Atlantic Coast Pipeline project that will run from West Virginia into Virginia (benefiting the residents of both states) and on into North Carolina. MDN told you earlier this week about a group of RINOs and Democrats working together–wealthy gentry class landowners–working to stop the Atlantic Coast Pipeline from traversing their horse farms (see Virginia RINOs in League with Dems to Stop Atlantic Coast Pipeline). That group, called “All Pain No Gain”, is not among the members of Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance. This new coalition or group of groups is, in typical fashion, against all proposed routes for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. It is an unreasonable and irrational fossil fuel-hating position–being “reported” by “news organizations” like the Associated Press as just an ordinary group of concerned citizens with legitimate concerns. It’s NOTHING of the sort…
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    NEXUS Pipeline Files Draft Reports w/FERC, Rejects CORNy Re-Route

    Last Friday the NEXUS Gas Transmission pipeline, a $1.5-$2.0 billion natural gas pipeline that will carry Utica and Marcellus Shale gas spanning 11 counties in Ohio, 3 counties in Michigan, and eventually connect to the Dawn Energy Hub in Canada, filed a full set of twelve draft environmental Resource Reports with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). A summary of the filing (included below) shows there are six large customers for the pipeline in Ohio (gas processors, utilities and large industrial companies). In addition to information about who will use the pipeline and the economic benefits that will come from the pipeline, NEXUS also filed information on alternative routes for the pipeline. Of note, one alternative route, proposed by the Coalition to Reroute NEXUS (CORN, which we’ve dubbed CORNy), is flat out rejected by NEXUS. CORNy wants to move the pipeline away from the Canton-Akron area. NEXUS says that’s a bad idea, for lots of reasons…
    Read More “NEXUS Pipeline Files Draft Reports w/FERC, Rejects CORNy Re-Route”

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    Virginia RINOs in League with Dems to Stop Atlantic Coast Pipeline

    Here’s the tag line from Navigators Global, a Washington, DC lobbying firm: “From the trenches of political campaigns to the height of corporate crises, we’ve navigated the toughest terrain. Whatever your challenge is, we can guide you to victory.” Looks like they’ll need to consult to themselves since the company is facing its own corporate crisis. The founder and president of Navigators Global is Phil Anderson. Phil is one of the rich, gentry class anti-pipeliners behind a group called “All Pain No Gain” that’s trying to stop the Dominion $5 billion, 550-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline project from going through Virginia (and through his land). We highlighted a McClatchy article yesterday that talks about the efforts of the All Pain No Gain group in raising big money to oppose the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project (see VA Gentry Class Raising $1M to Oppose Atlantic Coast Pipeline). We’ve since learned that when Phil’s involvement with that anti-drilling group became known, his firm immediately lost a $20,000 contract with NextEra Energy, another pipeline company with a project running through Virginia (see EQT & NextEra Tie the Knot on WV-VA Pipeline Joint Venture). Beginning of a trend? Anderson is a Republican In Name Only, and he’s joined by other RINOs in his opposition to pipelines–rich, white landowners (the gentry class) who don’t want pipelines in their back yards. Another Virginia RINO pouring money into the anti-pipeline effort is Tom Harvey, chairman of the non-profit Global Environment & Technology Foundation…
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