PA Gov. Wolf Threatens to Issue Order on Power Plants
In April, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, along with a number of Senate and House Democrats (and a few Philadelphia RINOs), announced updated changes to the state’s so-called “climate” plan–changes that will doom the state economically (see PA Gov. Wolf, Dem Legislators Release Even Worse “Climate” Plan). Among other things, Wolf plans to implement a cap-and-trade plan to control every aspect of Pennsylvanian’s lives by controlling how much and where they get energy from. And now Wolf is saying if the PA legislature won’t help him do it, he’ll just seize power and do it via Executive Order.
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In April, Pennsylvania State Rep. Mike Turzai, Speaker of the House, and a group of conservative Republicans, announced a plan for the future of PA (see 
We’ve written plenty about President Obama’s so-called Clean Power Plan (CPP), a plan to force electric generators to convert to using more “renewable” sources of energy and less fossil fuels (see 
There, now that’s the DRBC (Delaware River Basin Commission) we know and expect–obsequiously bowing before the likes of THE Delaware Riverkeeper and her environmental cousin, the Sierra Club. In June the DRBC approved a request by New Fortress Energy to build a $96 million 1,600-foot-long pier on the Delaware River (see 
Two of the eight Pennsylvania House bills that are part of an initiative called Energize PA have been voted out of the PA House State Government Committee. Both bills, House Bill (HB) 1106 and 1107, are aimed at streamlining and speeding up the permitting process at the semi-dysfunctional Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP). Enviro-leftists are spitting nails and hopping mad. These bills have momentum and now go to the full House for a vote.
In February 2017, Spire, a natural gas utility company based in St. Louis, Missouri, filed an official application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build the Spire STL Pipeline, a 65-mile, 24-inch diameter pipe that will flow 400 million cubic feet (MMcf) per day of yummy Marcellus/Utica gas from the Rockies Express (REX) pipeline to St. Louis (see 
Nice try, but no cigar for Plainfield Township in Northampton County. The Plainfield Board of Supervisors last week passed a new zoning ordinance that prevents pipelines (and cell phone towers, and solar farms, and wind mills, and and and) from being built near or under the 1.5 miles of the Appalachian Trail as it passes through their township. Thing is, when it comes to pipelines (like PennEast Pipeline) that are federally regulated, Plainfield can’t stop it. Their ordinance isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.
You may recall news from last year that an Ohio Supreme Court ruling requires landmen to have a real estate license in order to get paid–IF they are compensated via a commission and/or royalties for the deals they broker (see 
Two of the eight Pennsylvania House bills that are part of an initiative called Energize PA will be considered and debated before the PA House State Government Committee on September 17. Both bills, House Bill (HB) 1106 and 1107, are aimed at streamlining and speeding up the permitting process at the semi-dysfunctional Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP). Enviro-leftists are screaming–they don’t want the dysfunction to stop. Having shale permits issued more quickly is not in their game plan.
Well, score a victory for the forces of evil. Sometimes Darth Vader wins–that’s life. Yesterday the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that PennEast Pipeline cannot use the power of eminent domain to “condemn” (take possession of) land that is owned or otherwise controlled by the State of New Jersey because it violates the Eleventh Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. According to the judges, the Eleventh Amendment says states have sovereign immunity from such actions.
The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), which once supported (in court) Sunoco Logistics Partners method of requesting permits for the Marcus Hook facility (near Philadelphia), has just flip flopped and change sides, now siding against Sunoco and the permits the DEP itself issued for the Marcus Hook facility. DEP is now siding with the radical Clean Air Council demanding that all of the work at the Marcus Hook facility be done under a single emissions permit, not separate permits.
Just prior to taking a long Labor Day holiday weekend, MDN brought you news that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has overruled New York State to allow the Constitution Pipeline to move forward with construction (see