Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel

  • | | | | | | | | | | |

    ODNR Ticks Off Anti-Drilling Sierra Club with Drilling PR Plan

    memoIn August of 2012 staffers at the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) made a boo-boo. They put into writing (in the form of a 13-page memo, embedded below) a draft plan to promote Utica Shale drilling under (not on) Sunfish Creek State Forest (in Monroe County), under (not on) Barkcamp State Park (in Belmont County), and under (not on) Wolf Run State Park (Noble County). The memo begins by saying there will be a communications problem to solve: “An initiative to proactively open state park and forest land to horizontal drilling/hydraulic fracturing will be met with zealous resistance by environmental activist opponents, who are skilled propagandists. Neutral parties in particular — such as ordinary citizens concerned about their families’ health — will be vulnerable to messaging by opponents that the initiative represents dangerous and radical state policy by Gov. Kasich.” (emphasis original) The memo states later on that, “Anti-fracking activists will attempt to legally and physically disrupt or halt the drilling projects, including staging dangerous protests on state lands. (This will require sustained legal countermeasures and crisis readiness by ODNR.)”

    May we translate? Groups like the Sierra Club lie to people about the drilling issue–and they sometimes engage in bullying (and violent) behavior. Of course the Sierra Club liars are just a bit miffed at being called out as liars and bullies–by no less than a state agency charged with regulating oil and gas. So they are on the offensive. The first thing the Sierra Club and similar groups will do (are doing) is to get their buddies in the slavishly devoted mainstream media to pick up their “ODNR are scumbags” meme and run with it. The second thing is they will use the ODNR memo in fundraising letters, which is really what the shale drilling issue is for them–a big, fat fundraiser…
    Read More “ODNR Ticks Off Anti-Drilling Sierra Club with Drilling PR Plan”

  • | | | | |

    Cleveland Suburb’s Socialist Model for Restricting Utica Drilling

    Is Utica Shale drilling on the way to the Cleveland, OH area? It is if you listen to the mayor of the Cleveland uppity suburb of Gates Mills. Mayor Shawn Reilly wants landowners in Gates Mills to lock themselves into restrictive land trust deals–you know, to “manage” all that nasty, evil drilling if/when it gets there–in an estimated 10-12 years. This is not your typical landowner coalition being suggested. The good mayor wants landowners to sign over their mineral rights (via deed) to a “trust” managed by people appointed by the village (copy of the proposal embedded below). MDN’s advice to landowners in Gates Mills–run! Absolutely do not assign your mineral rights to a socialist organization that will not have your best interests at heart.

    Here’s an article full of errors–like it takes 200 acres for a horizontal drill pad, when it actually takes about 20 acres…
    Read More “Cleveland Suburb’s Socialist Model for Restricting Utica Drilling”

  • | | | | | | |

    Shame & IgnomiNY: Cuomo Sued by 70K NY Residents over Frack Delay

    The shame and ignominy of being sued by residents of your own state to do you job. That’s what happened to Gov. Andrew “Can’t Make a Decision” Cuomo on Friday when the 70,000-member Joint Landowners Coalition of New York filed an Article 78 lawsuit last Friday (see D-Day: JLCNY Files Lawsuit Today Against Cuomo, Martens, Shah). You might think 70,000 residents suing a governor would be important news–even the whiff of something like that should rate at least a mention in the news, right? If you live in Binghamton (where the JLCNY is headquartered), and your newspaper is a local liberal Gannett newspaper–that answer would be: “wrong.” In the lead-up to the lawsuit being filed, the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin obstinately (and angrily) refused to cover the story. They censored it. It was only after MDN friend and intrepid blogger Andy Leahy, writer of NY Shale Gas Now! prodded and poked and agitated the great dragon did they finally deign to post an article about the lawsuit.

    The article finally appeared in the Saturday, Feb 15 edition (the day no one reads the paper). To their credit, it was a front-page story–“above the fold.” But it was tucked along the right side (see the front page of that issue below). What, you may ask, was the all-important lead news item dominating the front page, taking up more than half of the editorial space? An open house at Binghamton University. Talk about journalistic integrity and keen insight–people with a real bead on what’s important for readers. Those editors at the PSB, there’re a sharp bunch…
    Read More “Shame & IgnomiNY: Cuomo Sued by 70K NY Residents over Frack Delay”

  • | | | |

    Setting the Record Straight on PA Drill Cuttings Going to NY Landfill

    Every now and again it’s necessary to run around and clean up the poopy mess made by reckless and inaccurate claims from anti-drillers. It’s a distasteful but necessary job that needs to be done, otherwise the mental feces they leave strewn all around would begin to pile up.

    With respect to inaccurate claims made by anti-drillers (with faux outrage) over drill cuttings (leftover rock and dirt) from PA shale wells that go to the Chemung County Landfill just across the border in NY, Chemung County Executive Tom Santulli is on clean-up duty. Hey, somebody has to do it, so with plastic bag in hand…
    Read More “Setting the Record Straight on PA Drill Cuttings Going to NY Landfill”

  • |

    Trout Unlimited, Other Groups Outted as Radical Green Groups

    For a long time MDN has harped on the fact that groups like Trout Unlimited is filled with extremist anti-drillers (see our article Anti-Drilling Close-up: Trout Unlimited from October 2012). Finally, a national organization credited with uncovering the illicit activities of groups like PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) which was caught funding eco-terrorits and arsonists, has shown the spotlight on Trout Unlimited and several other so-called “conservation” groups. The Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) says TU and several other groups, while starting out with good intentions, have been “co-opted by wealthy grant-making bodies notorious for their support of anti-gun, radical environmentalist agendas” all the while pretending to support hunters and fishermen. Finally, some truth wins out!

    Here’s the damning announcement from CCF that says TU, The Izaak Walton League of America and several other groups are definitely not what they present themselves as…
    Read More “Trout Unlimited, Other Groups Outted as Radical Green Groups”

  • |

    Anti-Drilling Site Daily Kos Runs Keystone Pipeline Ad [Screen Shot]

    Our daily trawl of the news takes us far and wide. Every day MDN editor Jim Willis wades through the mental equivalent of manure up to his neck–so you don’t have to. Sometimes it takes him to the far-out, left of Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un website, The Daily Kos. If an article appears on Daily Kos, you know it’s a) false, b) wacko, and c) anti-drilling. We usually skip on by such articles in an effort to control our blood pressure.

    But what’s this? It seems Daily Kos has no problems running ads for evil “big oil & gas” companies. We thought it funny when we started to read yet another rant on Kos and spotted an ad from TransCanada for the Keystone Pipeline, right there on the Kos website (see it below). We guess Kos has no problem making money from those nasty, horrible “big oil” companies they love to rail against so much…
    Read More “Anti-Drilling Site Daily Kos Runs Keystone Pipeline Ad [Screen Shot]”

  • | | | | | |

    Loyalsock Drilling Gets an Anti-Drilling Spin Job by PennFuture

    spinWe normally skip pronouncements from extremist anti-drilling groups like PennFuture. They, along with other PA groups like PennEnvironment, the League of [Liberal Democrat] Women Voters, Sierra Club, Shale Justice…you get the idea–hold unreasonable views on shale drilling and development. They simply want it all stopped–which ain’t gonna happen. There is no reasoning with them–no middle ground or acceptable way to drill for shale for such groups. So they become ever-more shrill in their false accusations and allegations about what may/maybe/might/could/possibly/theoretically happen if a particular area were to see shale drilling. Say, oh, like the Loyalsock State Forest in PA.

    We include a press release by PennFuture below, spinkled with lots of unspoiled this’ and pristine thats, pushing the panic button that (gasp) Anadarko Petroleum might actually be allowed to drill on land they legally hold the rights to drill on (see Manufactured Controversy over Drilling in Loyalsock State Forest). Why, that forest actually contains a “critical bird nursery”–can you imagine the malevolent intent of disturbing little birdies? What a wicked company Anadarko must be. Below is the PennFuture press release that we think has more to do with fundraising than any real or imagined harm that may come to Loyalsock. We bring it to you as an example of a masterful spin job…
    Read More “Loyalsock Drilling Gets an Anti-Drilling Spin Job by PennFuture”

  • | | | | | |

    Tackling a Serious Issue: Low Level Radioactivity in Drill Waste

    There are a number of problems to be addressed and resolved when it comes to shale drilling–issues like truck traffic, noise, lights at night and yes, wastewater and drill cuttings (leftover rock and dirt from drilling). MDN has never shied away from discussing those issues–we need to discuss them openly and honestly for that’s the only way we solve them. Simply saying those issues are unsolvable and therefore drilling should never happen is an unreasonable and intellectually dishonest position, yet that’s what many anti-drillers do. Case in point: a single anti-driller’s objection to Washington County, OH company Envirotank Clean’s request to handle and blend semi-liquid drill cuttings that have low levels of naturally occurring radioactivity to make it safe for disposal at certified landfills ready to take it.

    Envirotank wants a permit from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources to begin accepting what is called TENORM, or technologically-enhanced naturally-occurring radioactive material. In a self-defeating argument a single, solitary anti-driller who will no doubt recruit more to her side, says any amount of radioactive material is unsafe. We hate to tell her, but she may want to stay away from the local hospital where there’s lots of radioactive material–material that often sets off radiation alarms at landfills. Should hospitals ban cancer treatments because it produces TENORM material? According to her logic, yes…
    Read More “Tackling a Serious Issue: Low Level Radioactivity in Drill Waste”

  • | | | | |

    CT DEEP Wants Frack Waste Reclassified Hazardous to Keep It Away

    The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is concerned that fracking waste–both wastewater and drill cuttings–may end up coming to the state. So DEEP has asked CT legislators to consider a bill that will reclassify fracking waste as hazardous waste–even though the federal government itself doesn’t consider fracking waste “hazardous.” Apparently the DEEPers are afraid that those wily shale drillers will sneak across the border and contaminate the pristine wilds of CT, so they want to put severe restrictions on frack waste hauling with the aim of just keeping it away.

    Here’s the DEEPer story:
    Read More “CT DEEP Wants Frack Waste Reclassified Hazardous to Keep It Away”

  • | | | | |

    League of Liberal Democrat Women Voters Targets Fracking in WNY

    Recently the Portland Town Board in western NY held a special meeting to learn more about fracking. So who did they have present? Who did they find to present the facts on both sides of this contentious issue? That’s right, the League of [Liberal Democrat] Women Voters. You know–that “non-partisan” organization? (Excuse us as we now pick ourselves up off the floor from laughing so hard.)

    The LO[LD]WV is, of course, extremely partisan, extremely liberal and extremely anti-drilling–so it’s no wonder the town board members in Portland (located near Buffalo), got an honest-to-goodness real western NY snow job…
    Read More “League of Liberal Democrat Women Voters Targets Fracking in WNY”

  • | | | | | | |

    Binghamton Newspaper Censors JLCNY Lawsuit News

    Once again a glittering example of why mainstream media news sources, like the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin, are dying. Fast. Because they simply ignore (suppress? censor?) news that doesn’t fit their own anti-drilling philosophy.

    You might think that an organization that boasts 70,000 members throughout New York State (the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York, or JLCNY) that has just sent a letter to the governor, the head of the Dept. of Environmental Conservation and the state health commissioner telling them they’re about to get sued (see our companion story today) might be newsworthy. Further, if the chief lawyer and the president of said group (representing 70,000 landowners) called a press conference to explain the upcoming lawsuit–you might think it would at least rate a paragraph or two in the local newspaper of record. Right? If you live in the Binghamton area, that answer would be–wrong…
    Read More “Binghamton Newspaper Censors JLCNY Lawsuit News”

  • | | | |

    Anti-Drillers Target PA DEP Official for Elimination

    The anti-drilling long knives have come out for a mid-level PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) official because he dared to invest money in a mutual fund that buys energy stocks, investing in a PA driller (Cabot Oil & Gas, man knows a good thing when he sees it), and for an investment in a company that manufactures natural gas vehicle engines.

    Said official, Executive Deputy Secretary for Administration and Management Jeffrey Logan, has nothing to do with permitting or reporting or anything with the oil and gas end of the DEP’s business. There’s no “insider knowledge” he gets because of his position. But that’s OK–it’s time for a little anti-drilling bloodsport. Let’s shove him out on the stage in the limelight and begin target practice to see if we can bring him down…
    Read More “Anti-Drillers Target PA DEP Official for Elimination”

  • | | | | |

    Marcellus Gas Heading North: Canadian Pipeline Gets “Green” Light

    Seems like today is midstream day on MDN. Many of our stories revolve around pipelines and processing plants, including our lead about MarkWest (be sure to give it a read). Here’s an interesting story about a pipeline project in Canada that has a Marcellus tie-in. Enbridge Gas Distribution wants to expand their natural gas pipeline in the Toronto area, spending upward of C$686 million to do it. The “greens” of Canada (garden variety fossil fuel-hating anti-drillers) objected. The greens’ objection #1: If we just turn our thermostats down low, we won’t need the extra gas. The Ontario Energy Board said: Nope. Not buying that one. Objection #2: This pipeline will bring in that evil, nasty, fracked Marcellus Shale gas and kill us all because it pollutes water (in the U.S.) and releases fugitive methane into the atmosphere (global warming, heeelp!). Again, the Ontario Energy board said: Nope. Not buying that one either.

    Below is the full story about the pipeline. Embedded in it is the response by the calm, wise heads from the Ontario Energy Board to the greens, responding to them on the shale gas issue:
    Read More “Marcellus Gas Heading North: Canadian Pipeline Gets “Green” Light”

  • | | | | | |

    NY DEC Com. Martens Says No NY Fracking Until 2015 Earliest

    litigationIn what is sure to be a bitter disappointment to New York’s landowners, Dept. of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens said yesterday in testimony to lawmakers that he’s not going to issue any permits for shale drilling before 2015. Unless, of course, he’s forced to by a court (see Norse Energy Sues Gov. Cuomo to Force Release of Fracking Regs). Martens’ comments came as he gave testimony about the DEC’s budget for the next fiscal year, which begins on April 1st. Martens is not including anything in the DEC budget for shale drilling oversight and told lawmakers it would be “extremely unlikely” that permits would be issued before the end of March 2015, hence no need to bulk up his budget for it.

    Are we surprised? Not really. The decision of whether or not to allow fracking in New York has been a political and not a scientific one for a long time now–we’d say for years. Gov. Andrew Cuomo continues to push off the decision–not Health Commissioner Nirav Shah, not Joe Martens, but Cuomo. Shah and Martens are just foot soldiers that do their master’s bidding. This latest revelation of no fracking until 2015 further validates landowners’ resolve in pushing forward with lawsuits on various aspects of the drilling issue at various levels of the court system. It’s now obvious we will have to litigate for our freedoms–or loose them forever…
    Read More “NY DEC Com. Martens Says No NY Fracking Until 2015 Earliest”

  • | | | |

    The Band is Back Together! Anti-Drillers to Visit Binghamton U

    The band is three-fourths back together. A group of radical anti-drilling organizations, including NYRAD (New York Residents Against Drilling), the League of [Liberal Democrat] Women Voters, NYPIRG, the Sierra Club and other lesser-known wacko organizations are sponsoring an “information” (i.e. propaganda) night at Binghamton University this Friday. And they’ve re-assembled most of the band, er, anti-drilling “experts” that visited Cornell University with their traveling road show/circus last October (see Latest Laughable NY Anti Tactic – Not Enough Gas, Just Move Along).

    Retired systems engineer for IBM and Lockheed Martin Jerry Acton will be there to induce death by PowerPoint. So too will retired Mobil Oil Executive Vice President Lou Allstadt (who’s already made his millions, so he doesn’t want any silly “farmers” to make money too, who the *$#@ do they think they are?). Oh, and Brian Brock, an anti-drilling retired geologist. Notice a theme here? All retired, all anti-drilling, with nothing to do. Road trip!…
    Read More “The Band is Back Together! Anti-Drillers to Visit Binghamton U”

  • | | | | | |

    Glow-in-the-Dark Bob Hagan: Shrill and Nutty

    Ever notice that when anti-drillers can’t seem to convince the public of their views, they get nuttier? They start spinning wild yarns, like all that fracking waste is radioactive and we’re going start glowing in the dark any day now. That’s the kind of wild tale being spun by Youngstown, OH Rep. Bob Hagan (Democrat).

    Because not enough Ohioans are turning against Utica Shale drilling, it’s time to ratchet up the rhetoric and old Bob is ready to pour it on. Here’s his latest glow-in-the-dark warning…
    Read More “Glow-in-the-Dark Bob Hagan: Shrill and Nutty”