FERC Chair to Pipeline Protesters: It’s About Climate Change (Stupid)
By Andy Leahy
A new narrative is freshening for environmental reporters in mainstream and regional media: After suffering recent losses in extensively waged fights against new natural gas pipelines, notably in the blue-shifted northeastern U.S., opponents of fossil fuels are growing increasingly frustrated with the usually obscure decision-making process overseen by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC. Previously lost in the scrum: Comments by FERC Chair Cheryl LaFleur from Jan. 27, 2015–appearing before the National Press Club, no less–in which she essentially challenged activists concerned about climate change on the value of natural gas within the bigger equation. And she explained why “unprecedented” protest from activists is failing to deter FERC from approving necessary construction…
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West Virginia House Bill (HB) 2688 (see 
For months now, since the announcements of who then Gov.-elect Tom Wolf would appoint in his new administration to head up environmental efforts at both the Dept. of Environmental Protection (John Quigley) and the Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources (Cindy Dunn), MDN has called attention to the fact that both of those individuals are problematic based on their previous roles in the anti-drilling organization PennFuture. A third member of the Wolf administration is John Hanger, a previous Secretary at the DEP and an early member (supposedly founder) of PennFuture. All three once worked for Democrat Gov. Ed “Fast Eddie” Rendell and now are at the top of the power structure in Harrisburg working for Wolf. MDN friend and ace analyst Tom Shepstone rips the mask off PennFuture and exposes it for what it is in a new article published on his always excellent 
PennFuture, the anti-drilling organization that has produced three top lieutenants in the PA Gov. Tom Wolf administration (see Ripping the Face off PennFuture & It’s Former Employees), frequently uses the court system in its attempt to slow or stop the Marcellus industry. One such case was a lawsuit PennFuture filed against Ultra Resources in 2011. Ultra had eight compressor stations scattered across Tioga and Potter counties–all of them many miles apart from each other. PennFuture tried to make the legal argument that all of the compressor stations should be combined together and treated as a single entity for the purposes of the federal Clean Air Act, which would have resulted in either very expensive equipment to reduce each facility’s nitrgen oxide (NOx) output, or perhaps closed some of them down to make the combined total come in under a certain threshold. PennFuture tried to say the eight facilities are “adjacent” for the purpose of the Clean Air Act. Ultra argued adjacent means “next to,” as in sharing a border. It all boils down to what the definition of adjacent means. Earlier this week U.S. District Court for Pennsylvania’s Middle District ruled in favor of Ultra and against PennFuture…