PA Rep. Metcalfe Floats Resolution to Impeach DEP Sec. McDonnell
Two days ago Pennsylvania House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee (ERE) Majority Chairman Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) issued a co-sponsorship memo asking for other House members to sponsor a resolution with him calling for the impeachment of outgoing Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Patrick McDonnell. Metcalfe calls the measure his “parting gift” to McDonnell who is leaving the agency on July 2nd (see PA DEP Secretary Pat McDonnell Leaving Agency July 2nd). Metcalfe accuses McDonnell of “flagrant violations of our state Constitution and statutes throughout his tenure.”
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Last weekend the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) published a notice in the weekly (Saturday) edition of the Pennsylvania Bulletin to announce final guidance (i.e. regulations) on handling radioactive waste going to solid waste processing and disposal facilities from unconventional shale gas drilling operations and other sources. Last year MDN told you about a plan by the Wolf administration to require quarterly testing at landfills that accept shale drill cuttings (see 
Since 2013 anti-fossil fuel zealots–people with an irrational hatred of fossil fuels–have tried to ban drilling under (not on) public parks in Allegheny County, PA (near Pittsburgh). A small group of 100 radicals gathered outside the City-County building in downtown Pittsburgh last week to throw a collective temper tantrum, demanding Allegheny County Council ban any new drilling under county-owned parks (see 
We’ve made no secret of the fact we don’t think the American Petroleum Institute (API), which is controlled by its Big Oil members (like Chevron and ExxonMobil), serves the best interests of the shale oil and gas industry. A few weeks ago we scolded API for its support of an oil and gas-killing carbon tax (see 
Last month MDN brought you the news that Joe Biden is renominating Richard “Dick” Glick to serve yet another undistinguished term at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (see 
In March West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice signed into law a new bill requiring the entire state government–all of the various state agencies and governmental departments–to stop doing business with any bank or investment firm that refuses to support coal, oil, and natural gas companies (see 
Big Green groups are rejoicing that they have convinced a New York State judge to rule that an existing natural gas-fired power plant on the banks of the Hudson River, Danskammer Energy, will not be allowed to upgrade its gas turbines from older, more polluting turbines to newer, more efficient and less polluting turbines. Such is the evil mind of Big Green that they rejoice in such a “victory.” Big Green, including the Sierra Club and Earthworks, prefers more pollution rather than allowing a company to improve operations for those who live nearby. How whacked is that?
In March the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), corrupted by the Bidenistas, said it will begin to force all publicly traded companies to disclose their so-called greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the imaginary climate risks their businesses face (see 
The Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board (EHB) partially dismissed a challenge brought by Philly-area State Senator Katie Muth. She seeks to block Eureka Resources from moving forward with the construction of a new shale wastewater recycling facility in Dimock, PA–a location hours away from her own district. The EHB ruled that Muth has no standing under the PA Environmental Rights Amendment (ERA) to bring a challenge. The proposed facility is not in her district and there’s nothing that ties her to that location.
Last month MDN brought you the news that Joe Biden is renominating Richard “Dick” Glick to serve yet another undistinguished term at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (see 
The so-called Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a tax on carbon dioxide emissions from coal and natural gas-fired power plants aimed at killing off those two sources of energy, is more expensive than ever. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf is forcing PA to join the RGGI cabal of 11 states (most of them in the northeast), a move endorsed by the man who wants to replace him in November, PA Attorney General Josh Shapiro (see 
In April the New York State Assembly passed Assembly Bill A7389C. Early Friday morning the New York State Senate, on the last day of the current session, passed the same bill, sending it to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk for a signature. A7389C (full copy below) slaps a two-year moratorium on cryptocurrency mining (i.e. bitcoin mining) powered by electricity generated from burning fossil fuels. Here’s how it works in New York (we’ve seen this multiple times): First comes a moratorium that lasts a year or two, then the moratorium gets extended, and eventually the moratorium turns into an outright, permanent ban. That’s how it worked with fracking, and that’s how it will work with bitcoin mining in New York, a state that has become extremely hostile to business.
Last week Congressional Republicans from the House of Representatives, led by the man who will become the Speaker of the House after November’s coming tsunami election, Kevin McCarthy, introduced a road map describing how they will mitigate rising gasoline prices and address so-called climate change if the party wins control of the House in November’s midterm elections (which they will). The Republican plan arises from the task force established last year by McCarthy, called the Energy, Climate, and Conservation (ECC) Task Force. The task force rolled out a six-part “plan” (more like a framework than a fleshed-out plan) to tackle the ongoing energy crisis and the challenge of “global climate change.”
Last year the Bidenistas initiated a massive power grab of transferring the right of individual states to regulate local natural gas gathering pipelines to the federal government (see