Dissertation on How Big Green Manipulates People, Secret til 2018
MDN noticed an announcement for the publication of a new dissertation by a student in the masters degree program at the University of Vermont. The title of the student’s dissertation is, “Influence of Mission, Audience, and Policy Context on Issue Framing: A Case Study of Mobilization Against Hydraulic Fracturing in the Marcellus Shale.” When you dig into the abstract (i.e. summary) of the dissertation, it appears the student did research on a number of anti-drilling Big Green groups in the Marcellus/Utica and the techniques they use to manipulate public opinion. Sort of a look at how the Joseph Goebbels of our day do propaganda. We thought, “Hey, this is great! Somebody will finally lay bare how these incestuously-funded Big Green groups lie to and manipulate public opinion!” We tried to download the paper and promptly found that it won’t be available to the public for download until April 2018–two years from now. What’s up with that?…
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Last year midstream giant Energy Transfer Equity and its CEO Kelsy Warren pursued Williams, for months, and finally got Williams to agree to a deal to sell itself to Warren for $38 billion (see 
According to new numbers just released by our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), fracked wells (most of them shale wells) now produce two-thirds of the natural gas produced in the United States. And the U.S. produces the most natural gas of any country on Mom Earth. Even so, Crazy Bernie and Hillary have both pledged to shut it all down (yes, we believe them, they would do it). Here’s the EIA’s story of how the miracle of hydraulic fracturing has taken over in the U.S.–a miracle we can continue if we don’t elect radicals to high office…
A group of radical/leftist environmental groups have just launched their latest “sue and settle” case against the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). For a description of the despicable practice of sue and settle, where our own government colludes with these groups in a faux lawsuit which “forces” an agency to do what it wanted to do but couldn’t otherwise under existing laws, see this MDN story: 
Hey, it’s tough out there in the oil and gas patch. Something like 200,000+ workers in the industry have been laid off in the past year and a half. Now, somebody wants to do something about it. 
There was an explosion and fire in Spectra Energy’s Texas Eastern Transmission’s (TETCO) “Delmont Line 27” pipeline last Friday (see 
The muckety-mucks from Shell held their quarterly earnings phone call with analysts yesterday–and there is what we consider big news to report coming from that call. In response to a question from an analyst, Shell’s Chief Financial Officer, Simon Henry, commented there are four major “chemicals” projects currently under consideration by Shell. He also said a decision on the PA cracker plant project planned in Beaver County will likely be the first decision to be made because of “the timing of certain commitments that are already in place.” He added these glowing words about the PA cracker: “It’s an excellent project…[that] provides quite some portfolio resilience relative to the rest of the opportunities.” He later said “It’s a very strong and robust project.” If the price of oil were higher than the current $40, pulling the trigger on the PA cracker would be “a very easy decision.” When you read his comments, it’s hard to miss the enthusiasm at the highest echelons inside Shell…
It’s only been one year since Thailand-based PTT Global Chemical announced they are interested in building a $5 billion ethane cracker plant complex in Belmont County, OH (see 
In March MDN reported that Canadian midstream giant TransCanada wants a bigger piece of the Marcellus/Utica midstream (i.e. pipeline) pie and has decided to buy Columbia Pipeline Group for $10 billion (see 
Something noteworthy has happened in western Pennsylvania and (so far) local media has chosen not to cover it. So MDN is happy to break the following story about South Fayette Township in Allegheny County (near Pittsburgh). South Fayette is one of seven PA towns that sued the state after the Act 13 law was enacted in 2012 (see 