Rhode Island Lefties Proclaim They Want More Gas Pipes
We about fell out of our chair when we read an editorial appearing in the far-left Providence (Rhode Island) Journal. We call Rhode Island the “People’s Republic of Rhode Island” because it’s about as far left as North Korea or China. Most folks in the state irrationally hate all fossil fuels and believe renewables will save them from man-made global warming. At least, that was our impression. We were shocked to read an editorial in yesterday’s Journal that makes a strong case for, pleads for, new natural gas pipelines to get built in New England.
Read More “Rhode Island Lefties Proclaim They Want More Gas Pipes”
A notable development in a lawsuit that before now, we were unaware of. Several landowners in Venango County (northwest PA) filed a lawsuit against Shell’s SWEPI drilling subsidiary in 2013 claiming SWEPI had stiffed them out of lease bonus payments due under duly signed lease contracts. The landowners attempted to turn the lawsuit into a class action, claiming the same thing had happened for about 300 leases in the area. A federal judge has just ruled against converting the lawsuit into a class action.
A second lawsuit we’re reporting on today that had previously slipped by our usually good radar. A former Cabot Oil & Gas employee filed a lawsuit in October 2017 alleging that he and a number of other “employees” had been stiffed out of overtime payments by Cabot–that Cabot had treated them as independent contractors rather than as employees. The lawsuit was granted class certification.
One of the arguments often heard from those who oppose natural gas pipelines is that “nobody” benefits from the pipeline except the sleazy Big Corporation that builds and profits from it. A single pipeline running through Ohio and Michigan puts that lie to rest. Rover Pipeline, built and operated by Energy Transfer, paid out some $73 million in local property taxes in 2018 when the pipeline first began operation. For 2019, with the full pipeline operating at 100% capacity for the entire year, Rover says they will pay out ~$180 million in property taxes! Taxes that fund schools, roads, first responders and other worthy causes.
There are plenty of jobs in the shale industry in northeastern Pennsylvania–IF you have certain skills. What kind of skills? The kind that are taught at programs like at the Lackawanna College School of Petroleum and Natural Gas (PNG) in their two-year program. Or skills you can pick up at the Susquehanna County Career and Technology Center.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo finally got his wish last year by forcing the operator of the Indian Point Energy Center (nuclear power plant) located near New York City to agree to partially close down next year, and fully close down in 2021. We recently got a small preview of what will happen when Indian Point goes offline. In March Indian Point went completely offline for two weeks–scheduled outage for one reactor, and a malfunction in the other. Guess which form of energy took up the slack? It wasn’t solar. It wasn’t wind. It wasn’t hydro. It wasn’t magic fairy dust. It was natural gas that rode in to save the day.
This is nuts! This is insane! Because of overproduction, lack of pipelines, and an existing pipeline down for maintenance, natural gas sellers at the Waha natural gas trading hub (in West Texas) are actually paying buyers to take the gas off their hands–up to an amazing $5 per thousand cubic feet!!!!
Pennsylvania towns that pass sketchy local ordinances that skirt state laws are on notice: It’s going to cost you. Big. For the past several years we’ve reported on the case of Grant Township, PA that passed an ordinance cooked up by the radical Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) to try and block a state-approved injection well. The ordinance was tossed by a judge, and now the town will have to pay $102,000 in legal fees incurred by the operator.
What will Jeff Tittel of the odious New Jersey Sierra Club say now? Tittel and his ilk have for years litigated to block a natural gas pipeline that would flow Marcellus gas from PA into New Jersey, a pipeline that would cross through 10 miles of scrub pines colloquially known as the Pinelands–a “protected” area in NJ. Tittel objected to cutting down a few hundred scrub pine trees to make way for the pipeline. And just like that, Mother Nature came along last weekend and torched 10,000 acres of those same scrub pines via a forest fire. Maybe Mom Nature is clearing the trees for the pipeline?!
The Federal EPA has just launched the “New Owner Clean Air Act Audit Program” which allows drillers who purchased wells and drilling operations from other drillers to perform a self-audit of their new purchases for violations of the Clean Air Act–looking for fugitive methane and VOCs (volatile organic compounds).
What happened? Just a few weeks ago MDN told you that the West Virginia legislature had passed a bill with bipartisan support (and support from both the drilling industry and surface owners) that would redirect monies from low-producing oil and gas wells to fund a program to plug old abandoned wells (see