PA IRRC Votes to Approve Rushed Conventional VOC Regulation
Yesterday the Pennsylvania Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) voted to approve the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) and its Environmental Quality Board’s (EQB) rammed-through (in a rush) regulation to control volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and by extension methane, for conventional drilling sites throughout the state (see PA EQB Rams Through VOC Reg to Control Conventional Well Emissions). The DEP had SIX YEARS to get this regulation done and missed deadline after deadline. With a Dec. 16 deadline approaching to finish up the reg or risk losing half a billion dollars in federal highway funds, the DEP tried to bully the conventional drilling industry into accepting its onerous regulation with no comment period, no feedback, no nothing. Earlier this week, the Republicans on the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee voted to send a letter to the IRRC disapproving of the EQB’s final, rushed regulation (see PA House Environmental Ctte Votes to Disapprove Final VOC Reg).
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Equitrans Midstream (formerly EQT Midstream) owns the Rager Mountain Gas Storage Area in Jackson Township, Cambria County, in Pennsylvania. Beginning Nov. 6th, one of the wells at the Rager Mountain area (a depleted conventional well drilled in 1965) began leaking methane around the well casing (see 
Earlier this week, Shell announced its mighty ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, PA (near Pittsburgh) is finally, ten years after first announcing, fully operational and producing plastic pellets (see 
In March of this year, the three Democrats who occupy and control the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) sent a loud and clear signal they don’t like the Commonwealth LNG plan to erect a new LNG export plant in Cameron Parish, La. due to concerns over so-called environmental justice (see 
Two separate but related cases concerning Pennsylvania’s entrance into the interstate carbon cap-and-trade program known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), which we call a carbon tax, had their day in court yesterday. Judges from PA’s typically conservative Commonwealth Court heard oral arguments and, according to leftists, zeroed in on the issue of whether the so-called RGGI “fee” assessed by the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) is really a fee, or instead is really a tax. It makes a difference. The DEP can, constitutionally, assess a fee, but it cannot unilaterally slap a new tax on coal- and natural gas-fired power plants (as it is trying to do).
The leftist members of the Allegheny, PA County Council have proven just how leftward they have lurched (and how unhinged they have become). In July, the Council voted to overturn the veto of a ban on drilling for natural gas under (never on top of) county parks (see 
Investors in the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) continue to write down their investments in the long-delayed project. MVP, which is 95% done and in the ground, travels from Wetzel County, WV, to Pittsylvania County, VA, where it connects with other pipelines to carry Marcellus/Utica molecules to the southeastern U.S. RGC Midstream, which is owned by RGC Resources, is a very small investor in the project. RGC said this week it is taking a further impairment (writing down value) for its investment in MVP.
Spire Inc. is the owner and operator of the Spire STL Pipeline, a 65-mile pipeline that connects to and flows Marcellus/Utica gas from the Rockies Express (REX) pipeline in Scott County, IL, to residents and businesses in the St. Louis, MO area. Yesterday Spire issued its third quarter update and included a tidbit of information that had escaped us. In October, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a full, final, positive environmental impact statement (EIS) for Spire STL, the final step before issuing a permanent certificate for the pipeline to operate.
As things wrap up at the latest annual confab of leftist tyrants and wackos who seek to control the world by using the scare tactics of global warming, also known as the UN’s 2022 Climate Change Conference (COP 27), a group of countries calling itself energy importers and exporters (includes the U.S. as represented by the Bidenistas) issued a “joint declaration” that says, pretty much, they all hate fossil fuels and intend to stop using them in the next 20-30 years.
A new study from the American Gas Foundation (full copy below) concludes that the ability of the natural gas system to meet seasonal and peak day demands and to reliably deliver natural gas, even during high-impact events, represents an important and valuable resource that must be considered when designing future energy systems and building pathways to a low-carbon future. In other words, solar farms and windmills alone will NEVER be enough to provide reliable energy for the American consumer. If we want “resilience” (the capacity to recover quickly), we need natural gas. It’s that simple.
As we pointed out about a month ago, following his sellout of the country by voting for Joe Biden’s so-called Inflation Reduction Act (a new name for the Build Back Better/New Green Deal), U.S. Senator Joe Manchin’s popularity in his home state of West Virginia sank into the sewer (see 