PA Sen. Yaw Calls for Vote to Override Gov Wolf & Stop Carbon Tax
Earlier this week MDN told you that Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf swiftly vetoed a Senate resolution sent to him that would block PA from joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), nothing more than a carbon tax that won’t actually reduce carbon emissions (see PA Gov. Wolf Vetoes Bill that Would Block Obscene RGGI Carbon Tax). Wolf wants to tax coal and natural gas-fired power plants out of existence in the state, and rake in billions in tax revenues before the plants eventually go under. Death by taxation. PA State Senator Gene Yaw from Lycoming County, Chairman of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, has been a champion fighting Wolf’s insane carbon tax plan. Yaw is giving an impassioned call to override Wolf’s veto.
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We return, once again, to the story of New England (and New York) blocking new natural gas pipelines and in the process, hurting the residents of New England. Not only are residents harmed economically, but the environment is also harmed. As of 10 am yesterday morning, a full 20% of all the electricity generated in New England used either dirty oil or coal to do so. Normally the oil/coal generation number is less than one-half of one percent (<0.5%), not 20%. The price for electricity in New England is out of sight high right now too. Actions have consqeuences.
The Pennsylvania legislature recently passed a resolution against joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) carbon tax and sent it to Wolf, who had promised to veto it (see 
There is a clear delineation in the U.S. Constitution that says anything not specifically enumerated in the Constitution is left up to the individual states to govern and regulate. Leftists have for years tried to chip away, and under Joe Biden dynamite away, that distinction. Especially with regard to nationalizing the regulation of oil and gas drilling. The left’s favorite tool to regulate O&G is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is charged with regulating and enforcing various laws including the federal Clean Air Act (CAA) and federal Clean Water Act (CWA). In a case that will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court next month, West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency, the “potential ramifications” are “profound” according to anyone and everyone paying attention.
We’ve had our disagreements with Pennsylvania State Sen. Gene Yaw over the years (about a severance tax in PA), but for the past half dozen or more years Yaw, from Lycoming County, has been a stalwart champion of the PA Marcellus industry. Frankly, the shale industry could not ask for a better representative in the PA legislature. Yaw, chairman of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, has done his best to defeat Tom Wolf’s Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) carbon tax. Yaw is also promoting more pipelines in the Keystone State.
Although liberals are “dumb” in many senses–i.e. they don’t understand basic economics, they don’t understand the human yearning for freedom, etc.–they are very smart when it comes to accomplishing their twisted goals. For example, Joe Biden (a very dumb liberal) doesn’t need to outright ban natural gas-fired electric power plants across the country–something that could be undone by his successor. Instead, Biden gets various federal agencies to adopt new policies that make it impossible for new natgas projects to get investors and funding, which accomplishes the same thing–no new gas-fired electric plants. We have a coming crisis in electricity production if Biden’s policies, as stated, are implemented.
Since early 2015 (seven years ago!) we’ve been tracking stories about various proposals to build Marcellus gas-fired power plants in the Mountain State (see 
The Biden-controlled Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has rubber-stamped a request by regional electric grid operater ISO New England to cancel a contract with the proposed Killingly Energy Center, a 650-megawatt, gas-fired plant slated to be built in eastern Connecticut. FERC effectively killed Killingly. ISO New England said Killingly would not get built in time to fulfill a previous power agreement it had signed. The reason for the delays? Vicious attacks by anti-fossil fuel fanatics, particularly the odious nutters of the Sierra Club. It’s quite a game antis run. They slow down and delay a project with multiple frivolous lawsuits, then get it canceled because it’s slowed down and delayed.
We’re not sure why this story is not the top story on all of the state and national news networks. Using the threat of withholding public money, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf outright extorted Democrat members of the PA legislature to support his odious carbon tax plan, otherwise known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Before a key vote last month in the PA Legislature, Wolf offered a quid pro quo: Democrat legislators either support RGGI or Wolf will withhold approval for state funding for local projects in their districts. Why are there no investigations and demands for jail time?
TC Energy Corp., the former TransCanada, held its annual investor day on Dec. 1. TC owns extensive liquids and natural gas pipelines across North America, including the Columbia Gas Transmission interstate pipeline network that blankets Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. If anyone has its ear to the ground and watching for/discerning longer-term trends, it is big pipeline companies like TC Energy. During the investor day update, one of TC’s executives, Tracy Robinson, said she expects natural gas demand in North America to grow 25% by 2030. That’s a remarkable amount of growth!