BlackRock Settles Tennessee Lawsuit for Misleading Investors re ESG
BlackRock is the largest investment firm in the world, currently with $11.6 trillion of investments under management. Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, pushed the so-called ESG (environment, social, governance) agenda for years. What the left and people like Fink mean by ESG is don’t invest in or use fossil fuel energy (E), everything is racist (S), and the government is always right when Democrats are in charge (G). Fink stopped using the ESG term in 2023, although he continued to push the ESG agenda of divesting from fossil fuel companies (see Unrepentant BlackRock Won’t Use ESG Term, Still Forces Divestment). The State of Tennessee sued BlackRock for violating consumer protection laws in December 2023 (see Tennessee Sues BlackRock for Misleading Investors re Aggressive ESG). Tennesee’s Attorney General, Jonathan Skrmetti, announced a deal with BlackRock on Friday to settle the case. Read More “BlackRock Settles Tennessee Lawsuit for Misleading Investors re ESG”
On Friday, three leftist judges who sit on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (DC Circuit), one appointed by Joementia, one by Lord Obama, and a third by George H.W. Bush (Bush the 1st), threw out a rule the U.S. Department of Transportation had adopted during President Trump’s first term which allowed liquefied natural gas (LNG) to be transported by train. We warned you back in September the judges were signaling their intent to overturn LNG-by-rail during oral arguments (see 
In most states, when a deed or lease agreement is signed for mineral rights, it includes natural gas and oil on the theory that the gas and oil come from a mineral—shale rock. But that has not been the case in PA. Going back to a case in 1882, PA has had “the Dunham rule,” which separates natural gas rights from the broader concept of mineral rights (for background on the Dunham rule, see the MDN article 
Here’s a story that illustrates how the radicalized left continues to destroy jobs and the economy with its kneejerk reaction against *any* fossil fuel pipeline, no matter how large or small. Some five years ago, Dominion Energy announced the River Neck to Kingsburg project, a short 15 miles of 16” natural gas transmission main line that would run in an existing right-of-way with another pipeline along Old River Road near Pamplico in Florence County, SC. It was supposed to be built and flowing in 2022. Dominion still hasn’t built a square inch, thanks to the lawfare launched by the anti-fossil fuelers of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League. 
A judge has dismissed New York City’s lawsuit seeking to hold Exxon Mobil, BP, and Shell liable for misleading the public about their products and claims that their commitment to renewable energy and fighting climate change are false. The case was so weak not even a Democrat judge appointed by Kathy Hochul could stomach it. In her ruling, Justice Anar Rathod Patel told the city it could not have it both ways. The city claimed its residents knew about mythical climate change and how it is caused by burning nasty fossil fuels. Yet the city’s lawsuit claims Big Oil has tricked people into using fossil energy with false and misleading advertising. Patel wrote, “The city cannot have it both ways.” Touché! 
Maryland is a sad state. It’s completely ruled by leftists who seek to impoverish its residents by forcing them to use expensive and unreliable renewable energy. There is actually some Marcellus/Utica shale under Maryland (in a couple of far-western counties), but the state outlawed shale fracking nearly 10 years ago when then-Gov. Larry Hogan (a RINO and Trump-hater) allowed a Maryland bill to become law that bans fracking in the state (see 
We’ve read a number of articles warning the radical left is gearing up to launch a blizzard of lawsuits (i.e., lawfare) against the incoming Trump administration—particularly related to environmental and energy policies and regulations. It’s standard operating procedure for the left, which has taken to bastardizing our justice system in recent years. While the left often dreams about putting its political opponents in jail, not much has been done along those lines (see 
RBN Energy recently concluded a two-part series on LNG delays and what’s causing delays in bringing more export capacity online. Friday’s Part 2 of the series looks at recent court rulings and regulatory issues and their impact on U.S. LNG development. Yes, Joe Biden’s ill-timed “pause” on the Department of Energy issuing new export approvals certainly had a big impact (see 
In June 2021, MDN told you about CenterPoint Energy, a power generator looking to shutter portions of its coal-fired generation fleet and build two natural gas combustion turbines in Indiana (see 
One of the significant stories of 2024 in the Ohio Utica was about Austin Master Services (AMS), a radiological waste management solutions company in Martins Ferry (Belmont County), Ohio, that handles fracking waste (trucks it for disposal). AMS ran into trouble when it ran out of money. The Martins Ferry facility where waste is temporarily stored went from a permitted maximum of 600 tons of stored waste to over 10,000 tons, in violation of its permit. The Ohio Attorney General’s office filed a lawsuit against the company in March to force compliance. Local newspaper The Times Leader, in doing a Top 10 stories of the year, provides an update on AMS and where things stand with the cleanup. 
A leftist anti-fossil group calling itself Protect PT (Penn-Trafford), located in Westmoreland County, PA, backed with big money from Big Green groups, has for years challenged Penn Township ordinances that allow Apex Energy and Huntley & Huntley (now Olympus Energy) to drill and operate shale wells. Protect PT finally struck out (legally) at the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in May 2020 (see 
We’ll be blunt. Incoming Republican Attorney General Dave Sunday is already a disappointment for us. He recently posted details of his transition team to a special website. The co-chair of the transition effort is former RINO Governor Tom Corbett. That’s one strike. While there are several good members on the Energy & Environment Committee, Corbett and Sunday have included a radical anti-fossil fueler from the far-left PennFuture organization on the Energy Committee. How utterly disappointing (and a second strike). 
A lawsuit that slipped by us (and is still playing out) that began in Carroll County, OH, has major ramifications for landowners and drillers across the state. The case is EAP Ohio LLC v. Sunnydale Farms LLC, et al. in which 13 oil and gas leases were executed in 2008 and 2009 in Carroll County, Ohio. The 2008 Leases contained an identical royalty clause that limited post-production deductions to three categories: transportation, compression, and/or dehydration to deliver the gas for sale. After drilling wells on those properties, EAP (Encino Energy) deducted several other items from royalties, including costs incurred for processing, treating, fuel, gathering, and trucking. The lawsuit tussles with the issue of how terms are defined and whether these “extra” categories are allowed under the lease’s language. 
In November, MDN told you that Diversified Energy and EQT Corporation had settled a class action lawsuit originally brought by several West Virginia landowners (see 
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that could fundamentally change how the federal government conducts environmental reviews. We first told you about the case last week (see