A Closer Look at New Manchin Methane Tax – Part of IRA
After the shocking news that U.S. Senator Joe Manchin had sold out his state and the entire country by agreeing to support the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) bill, the details began to come out about just how bad this bill really is for the oil and gas industry. First and foremost, it slaps a new tax on oil and gas activities (see Joe Manchin’s Green New Deal Cave Slaps O&G with Big Methane Tax). We recently told you about the confusion about how that tax will work (see Confusion Over How to Implement New Methane Tax in Inflation Bill). We now have some more details–a summary overview of the damaging new Manchin methane tax…
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Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Richard “Dick” Glick tried to pull a fast one earlier this year when he tried to permanently enshrine global warming considerations as a requirement to approve all new pipeline projects (see 
Olympus Energy (formerly Huntley & Huntley) drills in the Greater Pittsburgh region, in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. Last year Olympus filed an application to build a new well pad in a rural part of Allegheny County, in West Deer Township. So-called “concerned citizens” (anti-fossil fuel zealots) got amped up to oppose the rural project (see 
In March, MDN told you that the Deputy Chief Administrative Law Judge of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) issued a ruling against the now completed Mariner East 2 pipeline project, assessing a $51,000 fine on the project for work done near an apartment complex (see 
The State of Florida has jumped on the divest-the-diverstors bandwagon. We have no doubt that Larry Fink, founder and CEO of the world’s largest investment firm, BlackRock, is now VERY concerned about the pushback he’s getting for pushing investors to divest from fossil energy companies. Two of the three largest states in the county (by population)–Texas and Florida–have decided to ban investments in funds that promote ESG–environmental, social, and governance. ESG is just another way of saying divest from fossil energy companies. And now the diverstors, like BlackRock and other Big Banks and Big Investment firms that divest, are themselves the targets for divestment. We love it!
Here’s a bit of news only one major news outlet (the Wall Street Journal) has covered: Last week Jennifer Granholm, hands down the most incompetent Secretary of Energy ever to hold the office, sent a letter to seven major refinery companies threatening them that if they don’t scale back exports of gasoline, diesel, and other liquid petroleum products, Granholm will have old dementia Joe whip up an executive order slapping a ban on such exports. She’s making them an offer they can’t refuse.
The 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project from Wetzel County, WV, to Pittsylvania County, VA, announced in 2014, was supposed to be completed in 2018 and cost $3.5 billion. The project builder, Equitrans Midstream, now says MVP, which is 94% complete, should be done by the end of 2023 at a staggering cost of $6.6 billion. What happened between 2014 and today is that Big Green groups, many of which use foreign funding (from countries like Russia), have repeatedly challenged the project. Complicit and colluding judges have placed roadblocks in the way, preventing MVP from finishing. Given the ongoing opposition from the radical left, MVP asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in June to extend the time to complete the project until October 2026, just in case. On Tuesday, FERC granted MVP’s request.
Just when you thought you’d seen it all from the Communist left in this country (i.e. the Sierra Club and their foreign-backed affiliates), along comes another breathtaking attack. The Clubbers and their minions have filed a petition with the Bidenista-controlled EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), asking the EPA to classify natural gas and fuel oil furnaces throughout the country as a “Source Category” subject to emissions rules under the federal Clean Air Act, which is a clever way of saying the sale of new fossil energy furnaces used in homes and businesses should be banned on the assumption they cause pollution that violates the Clean Air Act.
If you live in Pennsylvania and listen to (or read) the media at all, you have likely heard about Senate Bill 106. The “short title” for the bill is this: “A Joint Resolution proposing separate and distinct amendments to the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, providing that there is no constitutional right to taxpayer-funded abortion or other right relating to abortion; further providing for action on concurrent orders and resolutions, for Lieutenant Governor and for qualifications of electors; and providing for election audits.” Yeah, not so short. The bill is aimed at amending the PA Constitution to cover several important issues.
The recently-adopted Manchin-Schumer so-called Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which is a toned-down version of the Build Back Better/Green New Deal proposal of last year, is supposed to save Mom Earth from toasting to death. That’s what all the Big Green groups and Democrat politicians say. You could hear a collective sigh of relief that Joe Biden has saved the planet. The reality? When you plug the numbers into the United Nations climate model to measure the impact on global temperature by 2100, you find that the Manchin-Schumer bill, in the most optimistic scenario, will lower worldwide temperatures by 0.028 degrees Fahrenheit. In other words, it doesn’t lower temps AT ALL. What the new law does do is transfer hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money to corporate Democrat cronies in the renewable sector. It’s sickening.
U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, in an interview with the Associated Press, attempts to come off as the reasonable, middle-of-the-road, aw-shucks guy who sticks up for what he believes is right and the good of West Virginians. Don’t fall for it. He was pressured by the wackadoodle left in the Democrat Party, and he folded like a cheap suit. Manchin deserves to be voted out of office the instant that opportunity arises. We’re talking, of course, of Manchin’s betrayal of fossil energy through his support for one of the most destructive pieces of legislation that has passed since Joe Biden began to occupy the White House–the so-called Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), better known as the Green New Deal (aka Build Back Better). Manchin’s betrayal has profound consequences for fossil energy in this country.
A new audit of the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources’ (ODNR) Orphan Well Program was released August 9 by the Auditor of State’s Ohio Performance Team (full copy below). The Ohio Auditor’s office reviews the operations of government agencies and programs and offers recommendations to improve their efficiency and effectiveness. Auditor of State Keith Faber said in the audit that ODNR is still spending only about half of the funding required to plug old wells. Faber said, “ODNR’s Orphan Well Program is moving in the right direction, but there’s still much work to do,” and “We need to pick up the pace.” It was a metaphorical kick in the seat of the pants.