Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel

Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Centre County | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines

Deniers Would Rather Penn State Keep Burning Coal than Use NatGas
October 31, 2013October 31, 2013

Witnessing the psychology of those who are anti-drilling, and the reasons for being anti-drilling, is instructive. Some people are honestly afraid that fracking and an increased use of natural gas will lead to an environmental holocaust. We’ll call them lazily ignorant. They don’t bother to investigate or think through the information being spoon fed to them with a critical, logical mind. They just accept the fantastical yarns they hear as the truth. Then there are the true believer fanatics who have gone on over the edge, believing mythical “renewables” can power the planet–now–if only we had the political spine to man-up and change. Bring back the horse and buggies! We’ll call them dangerously stupid.

Regardless of whether you’re lazily ignorant or dangerously stupid (i.e. regardless of why you believe), what you believe does matter. Case in point: A “few dozen” residents and students who live near Penn State in State College, PA want the university to forget about their plan to convert their electric generation plant from being powered by coal to being powered by cheaper, clean-burning natural gas…
Read More “Deniers Would Rather Penn State Keep Burning Coal than Use NatGas”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

PA Anti-Driller Claims She was Disrespected at County Meeeting
October 31, 2013October 31, 2013

A few days ago MDN told you about Susquehanna County, PA’s minor anti-fracking celebrity Vera Scoggins (see NE PA Anti-Driller Slapped with Trespassing Injunction). We’ve recounted a number of instances of Vera’s bad behavior. Being slapped with a court order hasn’t slowed her down. Vera showed up at the recent Susquehanna County Commissioner’s meeting to continue her antics.

The following story is self-explanatory. Here’s the real laugh line: Vera says she was disrespected at the meeting! That’s after she refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance…
Read More “PA Anti-Driller Claims She was Disrespected at County Meeeting”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation | Transco

Anti-Drillers Try to Slow New Transco Pipeline Near Princeton, NJ
October 30, 2013October 30, 2013

Several so-called environmental groups, including the odious Food & Water Watch, have filed a notice of intervention with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in an attempt to stop Transco from building 1.3 miles of new natural gas pipeline near Princeton, NJ.

FERC now has to review the objection and render a decision, a process that will further delay the project, which of course is the intent…
Read More “Anti-Drillers Try to Slow New Transco Pipeline Near Princeton, NJ”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Warren County | Wastewater

CWA Sues/Accuses Waste Treatment Corp of Continued Shale Pollution
October 29, 2013October 29, 2013

Is a municipal waste treatment facility in Warren County, PA (northwestern part of the state) still accepting and treating Marcellus Shale frack wastewater that is polluting the Allegheny River? That is the very serious charge made in a federal lawsuit filed yesterday by the radical anti-drilling organization Clean Water Action (CWA). Waste Treatment Corporation’s facility near Warren was supposed to have stopped receiving frack wastewater from Marcellus Shale drilling in May 2011, after a deal was made with then-Dept. of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Krancer (see PA DEP, Marcellus Shale Coalition Admit Drilling Wastewater Likely Contaminating Drinking Water). According to CWA, Waste Treatment continues to accept Marcellus frack wastewater, process it and dump it into the Allegheny, thereby polluting it. The Allegheny is the source of drinking water for Pittsburgh and other municipalities.

The CWA also charges that the PA DEP knows about said dumping and is sitting on its hands, attempting to work out a new deal rather than shut the plant down or otherwise pull their permits to get them to stop…
Read More “CWA Sues/Accuses Waste Treatment Corp of Continued Shale Pollution”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

Cornell Prof Tony Ingraffea Learns a New Skill: Cut & Paste
October 29, 2013October 29, 2013

Cornell professor Anthony (Tony) Ingraffea is very talented. Ingraffea is not only an erstwhile stand-up comic (see Cornell Hydraulic Fracturing Expert Headlines First Meeting of New York Residents Against Drilling (NYRAD) in Vestal, NY) and fictional report writer (see Howarth, Ingraffea Shale Gas Study on Global Warming Discredited by U.S. Department of Energy), he’s now added another new skill to his towering intellectual quiver. Tony has learned how to cut & paste in Microsoft Word! Yes, it’s a real resume enhancer.

Our entertaining Cornell prof thought he would get away with cutting and pasting his own previously published “exclusive” editorial for the New York Times by sending it off to flyover country where he didn’t think the hicks would notice. Tony sent essentially the same column to Wyoming previously published in the NYT. However, the hicks noticed…
Read More “Cornell Prof Tony Ingraffea Learns a New Skill: Cut & Paste”
Allegheny County | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

She Speaks! Teresa Heinz Kerry Talks re Endowments Firings, CSSD
October 28, 2013October 28, 2013

The autocratic tendencies of liberals are amusing (and scary) to watch. Case in point: Teresa Heinz Kerry, chairwoman of the Heinz Endowments. Kerry finally addressed the issue of the Heinz Endowments firing three high profile employees, including the Endowments’ president Bobby Vagt (see Bobby Vagt Out as Pres of Heinz Endowments – Fracking Connection?).

While refusing to be completely forthcoming, Kerry was forthcoming enough to confirm what we already suspected: the Heinz boys and mommy dearest didn’t like the Endowments getting into bed with the Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD). Pay close attention to what Kerry does and does not say in the following article. MDN snarky commentary included [in brackets]…
Read More “She Speaks! Teresa Heinz Kerry Talks re Endowments Firings, CSSD”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Crime | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

NE PA Anti-Driller Slapped with Trespassing Injunction
October 28, 2013October 28, 2013

Vera Scroggins is a minor celebrity in Susquehanna County, PA–perhaps even beyond. Josh Fox of Gasland fame knows her and loves her. She certainly knows how to harass people she disagrees with (see “The Final Ploy of the Desperate” Natural Gas Opponents for one shining example of her charm). Scroggins has, until now, created a cottage industry of taking “tour groups” around to fracking sites in Susquehanna County–trespassing and pushing her ever-present camera into the face of private landowners (who have asked her to leave) and into the face of gas workers.

Cabot Oil & Gas, the company leasing many of the sites targeted by Scroggins, finally went to court to keep her from harassing private landowners and their workers. That is, Cabot asked the court to stop Scroggins from breaking the law. And the court has now done so by issuing a temporary injunction against Scroggins which will remain in force until a hearing for a permanent injunction is held…
Read More “NE PA Anti-Driller Slapped with Trespassing Injunction”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Stark County | Utica Shale

FWW Anti-Drillers Protest an Empty Building in Canton, OH
October 25, 2013October 25, 2013

MDN has written many times about the odious and misnamed Food & Water Watch (FWW)–an anti-fossil fuel, anti-drilling group behind a lot of so-called “spontaneous” protests against fracking. We always knew the FWW faithful were misguided in their opposition. Unfortunately we have to be honest and add another adjective in the descriptor of FWW protesters: dumb.

Wednesday a group of some 300 people turned out at the Canton Civic Center in downtown Canton, OH for Utica Shale Summit 2014. A dozen FWW protesters thought they would make some mischief and grab a few headlines by turning up to protest. Except they turned up after the event was over and the building was empty. When told of their faux pas and that nobody was home, the FWW protesters stood around protested anyway–they protested an empty building. Talk about dumb and dumber…
Read More “FWW Anti-Drillers Protest an Empty Building in Canton, OH”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Bucks County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation

Michigan Driller Walks Away in Frustration from SE PA Leases
October 23, 2013October 23, 2013

Michigan-based driller Arbor Resources leased a bunch of land in southeastern Pennsylvania six years ago–in Bucks County (in the orbit of Philadelphia). Specifically, they leased land for gas drilling in Nockamixon Township. There is no Marcellus Shale in that area, but there are other formations, including the South Newark Basin. Arbor wanted to drill a few test wells for natural gas in the area, but the town opposed it and went to court to block it. Then in 2012, some squishy liberal Republicans shamefully snuck an eleventh hour ban on drilling in the South Newark Basin until more “studies” could be done into the 2012 budget (see Republicans Sneak SE PA Drilling Ban into Budget Deal).

With continuing low prices for natural gas, six years of legal issues with Nockamixon Township, a ban by the Delaware Basin Commission in effect in that area, and a state-enforced ban from RINOs in place, Arbor is throwing in the towel and walking away from Nockamixon and southeast PA. Good riddance for Arbor, no doubt. Goodbye tax revenue, goodbye jobs and goodbye millions of dollars of investment for Nockamixon…
Read More “Michigan Driller Walks Away in Frustration from SE PA Leases”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Crime | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

Glitter, Whistles and the Unhinged Antics of Anti-Frackers
October 23, 2013October 23, 2013

We bring you the following story about fracking protesters in New Hampshire purely for entertainment value–to show you just how bizarre and unhinged some of these people become. We’re not quite sure how “glitter” plays into the anti-fracking movement, but we predict a run on glitter if the anti-fracking movement picks up steam. Get your glitter supplies at AC Moore while you still can!

To be honest, we have the feeling if it weren’t fracking these ~~burned-out hippie retreads~~ people are protesting, it would be something else. Their lives appear to be meaningless without something to be “against”…
Read More “Glitter, Whistles and the Unhinged Antics of Anti-Frackers”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

Cows Belch Methane Like a Fire Breathing Dragon!
October 22, 2013October 22, 2013

Anti-frackers are anti-frackers mostly because they hate fossil fuels. Natural gas, i.e. “methane,” is one of those evil, dirty fossil fuels. It’s a philosophical thing for anti-frackers. Methane from the ground is non-renewable, ya know–and we just can’t have that! Call it being energy prejudiced.

Now comes word that–unbelievably–cows also emit methane, and a lot of it. No, not from that end silly–they emit methane from burping! Cows emit something like 250-300 liters per day of methane from belching. Each cow is a mini-environmental disaster. Who knew that cows were such rude, belching polluters? But have no fear–the Argentinians have figured out a way to capture all that burped methane and purify it for use by humans (and no, this is NOT a joke). MDN does wonder: Will this new revelation about methane from cow burps and the ability to harness it spawn a new anti-burping movement? Anti-frackers might now become anti-burpers…
Read More “Cows Belch Methane Like a Fire Breathing Dragon!”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | New York County | Pipelines | Spectra Energy

Spectra NJ-NY Marcellus Gas Pipeline Goes Online Nov. 1
October 22, 2013October 22, 2013

It’s been a long road and a long time in coming, but the good news is that starting Nov. 1, residents of New York City will have another 800 million cubic feet of cheap mostly-Marcellus natural gas flowing into the city through Spectra Energy’s 16 mile, $1.2 billion pipeline from New Jersey to New York. The pipeline will flow enough gas to heat 2 million homes in NYC each year. Outgoing Mayor Michael Bloomberg has called more natgas for NYC “vital”. Most New Yorkers are in favor of the new pipeline, but that didn’t deter some from trying to stop the new pipeline.

During construction of the pipeline Spectra had to deal with a lot of nonsense, like protesters who turned into strippers (see NYC Pipeline Protesters Get Naked, Paint Themselves Green), protesters who didn’t even tell themselves they were about to spontaneously break the law (see Nutjob Protester Stops NYC Pipeline Construction for 2 Hours), and groups of protesters like the [In]Sane Energy Project that sued to stop the pipeline (see Judge Tosses Out Lawsuit Against Spectra NYC Pipeline Project). Spectra pressed on through it all and they’re about to turn on the valve Nov. 1. Success at last!…
Read More “Spectra NJ-NY Marcellus Gas Pipeline Goes Online Nov. 1”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

Josh Fox Lectures President Obama: Stop Fracking or Else
October 22, 2013October 22, 2013

Even though he’s an Obama @!$ kisser and boot-licker, frat boy and fake documentary maker Josh Fox has some words of warning for his American presidential idol: I won’t like you anymore if you keep fracking. Oooooo, we’re sure Barry is really concerned. Like he gives two flips what Josh Fox thinks…
Read More “Josh Fox Lectures President Obama: Stop Fracking or Else”
Albany County | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | New York

Handful at Albany Anti-Fracking Rally Spout Lies About NE PA
October 21, 2013October 21, 2013

Where two or more are gathered in the name of anti-fracking it’s a “movement” and a “rally” and worthy of media coverage by the reliably anti-fracking Albany Times Union. Such is what happened over the weekend at an Albany park where a handful of people turned up to protest against fracking.

Betty Head, an Albany-area resident and local head volunteer for the fanatically leftist moveon.org, was the main speaker. Ms. Head says she recently visited northeast Pennsylvania (Susquehanna County) and saw “dusty streets” and “vegetation [that]…looked burned and withered” because of fracking. MDN says Ms. Head’s whoppers would make even Mark Twain blush. We’ve visited Susquehanna County too (we live just across the border) and have seen no such thing–in proximity to drilling operations or not. But such is what gets picked up and amplified by lazy liberal media organizations that don’t bother to check the facts…
Read More “Handful at Albany Anti-Fracking Rally Spout Lies About NE PA”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Wastewater

OH Anti-Drillers Ask Gov. Kasich to Shut Down Injection Wells
October 21, 2013October 21, 2013

Anti-drilling organization (and misnamed) Food & Water Watch (F&WW) is behind many attempts to slow down or halt shale drilling in Ohio (and Pennsylvania). Their latest strategy is to shut down deep injection wells which some drillers still use to dispose of leftover fracking wastewater. On Friday, a “handful” (which means less than five) protesters from F&WW hand delivered a letter to OH Gov. John Kasich’s office asking that he issue an executive order immediately shutting down all injection wells in the state (full copy embedded below).

The letter is signed by F&WW and 32 other fringe groups–mostly individuals masquerading as groups to make it seem like scads of people support this nonsense…
Read More “OH Anti-Drillers Ask Gov. Kasich to Shut Down Injection Wells”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Information Lockdown at Heinz Endowments over Vagt Departure
October 18, 2013October 18, 2013

Earlier this week MDN told you about the departure of Robert (“Bobby”) Vagt as president of the Heinz Endowments (see Bobby Vagt Out as Pres of Heinz Endowments – Fracking Connection?). It appears that at least one of the “green” board members of the Heinz Endowments (cough *Andre Heinz* cough) wasn’t happy that the family foundation decided to reach across the isle, under Vagt’s leadership, to work with the Marcellus Shale drilling industry on strict certification standards for drillers.

The problem is, no one knows for sure. It’s all still rumor and speculation. Heinz is being super tight-lipped and according to one reporter MDN spoke to, the organization is on “information lockdown” over this issue. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes the following editorial about the situation–an editorial we agree with 100%:
Read More “Information Lockdown at Heinz Endowments over Vagt Departure”