Both Conventional & Shale Drillers Continue to Oppose New PA Regs
7/29/16 Update: Please see the note at the end of the article for a clarification on when/how the new Article 78a drilling regulations may (or may not) take effect.
An update on the status of new drilling regulations in Pennsylvania. The short version: both the conventional and unconventional (shale) drillers in the state are actively opposing new regs, even though new shale regs were recently passed into law. The slightly longer explanation: those new shale regs, referred to as Article 78a, were voted on and signed into law in June (see PA Gov Wolf “Eager” to Sign Drilling Law Forced Down His Throat). At the same time, conventional drilling regulations were sent back to the drawing board before being introduced again. Although new shale regs were ostensibly adopted, they are not (yet) in force. The shale industry recently attempted to tweak the new regs to make them less onerous, but that effort failed last week (see Bill Tweaking Article 78a Shale Drilling Regs Dies in PA House). Where does it all stand now? New Article 78a regulations, as adopted, are undergoing a review at the PA Attorney General’s office. AG Kathleen Kane, a committed anti-driller, is going to trial in two weeks for committing felonies while in office (unrelated to drilling)–so she’s distracted. After the AG’s office signs off (who knows how long?), then the new regs will go into full force. Unless it can be stopped…
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In November 2014 MDN told you that West Virginia University and Ohio State University received an $11 million grant from the U.S. Dept. of Energy for a joint five-year study of Marcellus/Utica fracking and shale drilling (see 
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We can not be more crystal clear on this: a vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote to end the use of fossil fuels, and a vote to plunge our great nation into economic depression. Over the weekend the Democrat Party hashed out its official party platform–the tenants by which the party, if it should be so lucky as to hold on to power, will live by for the coming four years. The Dems are composed of radical idiots of all stripes, but some are more radical than others. The official platform calls for a tax on carbon (the stuff you breathe out with every breath) to tackle so-called (and non-existent) “climate change.” The platform also calls for a “phase down” of drilling on public lands. What the platform does not call for, however, is a total ban on all fracking. And that lack of a total ban in the official platform has set off some of the craziest of the crazies in the party. A group of them, spurred on by the odious and misnamed Food and Watch Watch, are making the rounds in Philadelphia. Near the convention center are several dozen donkey statutes, placed there in honor of the upcoming Dem convention in two weeks. So what are the FWW crazies doing? Placing piles of papier-mâché poop under the business end of the donkeys and spray painting “No ban on fracking, the Dem platform is crap.” Hilarious! We’re finally seeing the Dem party crack up and self-implode, thanks to anti-frackers…
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