The Ax Swings at Larded-Up EPA, 1100 Employees Put on Notice
The libs and swamp dwellers are apoplectic. The Bidenistas larded up government agencies with thousands of new employees over the past four years. The federal government added approximately 200,000 new employees in the past four years, with the most significant increase occurring in 2023, when the workforce grew by around 85,000 individuals. Donald Trump and his chosen ax man, Elon Musk (via the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE), are trimming the fat. Quickly. Including at the Environmental Protection Agency where 1,100 employees added to the payroll at EPA in the past year were notified that they are in danger of losing their jobs. Trump and Musk are hunting for swamp dwellers. Read More “The Ax Swings at Larded-Up EPA, 1100 Employees Put on Notice”
Reading between the lines, we’d say the politicians in both Canada and Mexico are puking their guts out after Donald Trump actually did what he said he would do: He slapped a 25% tariff (i.e., tax) on any imports coming to the U.S. from either of our neighbors north and south. The new tax includes a 10% tax (tariff) on incoming oil and gas and other “energy products” from Canada. The new tariffs go into effect tomorrow (Tuesday, Feb. 4). Canada and Mexico will need to firm up their borders to stop illegal aliens from invading our country and to stop the cartels that are flooding America with drugs that are killing our residents. If Canada and Mexico don’t shore up the border and the tariffs remain in place long-term, their respective economies will tank, and their political “leaders” will be voted out of office so fast it will make your head spin. This is how real change happens, folks. 
In June 2019, the New York State legislature passed a horrific “energy” bill that was later signed into law by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (see 
Last November, three of five supervisors in Cecil Township (Washington County), PA, voted to ban all new fracking via a new setback (distance from well to nearest structure) requirement of 2,500 feet (see 
The PJM Interconnection electrical grid operator that covers Pennsylvania (along with all or parts of 12 other states and the District of Columbia) has caved to the political demands of PA Gov. Josh Shapiro to artificially cap the prices of the next capacity auction scheduled for July 2025. It means electric ratepayers won’t see as high of an increase in their electric rates (yah!), but it also means the risk of a blackout has just gone way up (boo!). As we’ve outlined in previous posts, electric prices are soaring in PJM because of the policies of Josh Shapiro. 
Both conventional and unconventional (shale) drillers in Pennsylvania were supposed to submit a new annual report to the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on December 10, 2023, detailing volatile organic compound (VOC) and methane emissions from their operations over the previous one-year period. Shortly before that deadline, the DEP suspended the due date and set a new due date of June 1, 2024 (see 
There’s a reason the Haynesville shale play in Louisiana and East Texas drills more wells than both the Marcellus and Utica shales combined. That reason? Lower taxes and less regulation. Particularly compared with Pennsylvania, where the taxes and “fees” are high and regulations are far too restrictive. Pennsylvania State Senator Doug Mastriano, who ran for governor against Josh Shapiro in 2022, is proposing to correct the situation with a new bill that would suspend the state income tax on shale drillers, among other positive moves. 
In February 2022, three Democrat Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) commissioners voted to adopt and immediately begin using new guidelines for approving pipeline projects by taking into account mythical global warming (GHG) factors (see 
We don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that the Trump freight train hit and ran over the left’s radical environmental agenda in a single 12-hour period on January 20th when newly-inaugurated President Donald J. Trump signed a flurry of Executive Orders (EOs). The Trump train hit and ran over the left, and they still don’t understand (can’t conceive) just how fundamentally and deeply they’ve been defeated. They can’t accept that their power has been completely emasculated. Their fantasy world of forced renewable everything is GONE. Now, renewables have to compete with fossil energy, and it’s no competition. No more shaming and blaming oil and natural gas (and shale energy). How did everything change on Jan. 20th? Let’s break it down for you, blow by blow… 
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision last July vacating (nullifying) the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) approval of Transco’s Regional Energy Access Expansion (REAE) project to bring gas from Pennsylvania to New Jersey and Maryland (see 
The highly functional and responsible Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), unlike its completely dysfunctional and irresponsible cousin, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), continues to support the shale energy industry by approving water withdrawals and consumptive use for responsible and safe shale drilling. The SRBC published a notice in the January 25 Pennsylvania Bulletin that the Executive Director of the SRBC gave his approval to or renewed 18 general water use permits in December for individual shale gas well drilling pads in Bradford, Cameron, Centre, Clearfield, Lycoming, Susquehanna, and Tioga counties. 
In December, PA’s Democrat Governor, Josh Shapiro, filed a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) alleging the PJM electric grid is being mismanaged and using inflated numbers that will cause economic pain for the 65 million customers who buy electricity in the PJM region—in particular the residents of PA. What’s causing the high prices in PJM, a region rich in natural gas? The policies of Shapiro and his predecessor in proposing a carbon tax have scared away new gas-fired power plants from building in the Keystone State. As we reported yesterday, Shapiro has increased his menacing and threats against PJM (see 
President Donald J. Trump, with the sweep of his pen, canceled the cancel culture that has been deeply embedded in the federal government, attempting (under the banner of alleged racism called “environment justice”) to end fossil energy infrastructure projects like pipelines. In an executive order on his first day in office, Trump terminated all so-called “environmental justice” positions and offices across the federal government. Brilliant! 
In May 2023, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) proposed a new rule that would slap onerous and very expensive new requirements on pretty much all natural gas pipelines in the country, including 2.7 million miles of gas transmission, distribution, and gathering pipelines; 400+ underground natural gas storage facilities; and 165 liquefied natural gas facilities (see 
In December, PA’s Democrat Governor, Josh Shapiro, filed a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) alleging the PJM electric grid is being mismanaged and using inflated numbers that will cause economic pain for the 65 million customers who buy electricity in the PJM region—in particular the residents of PA. What’s causing the high prices in PJM, a region rich in natural gas? That would be former Gov. Tom Wolf and current Gov. Josh Shapiro insisting the state tax gas-fired power plants via the so-called Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Shapiro is blaming the victim (PJM) for his actions. He just increased the volume (as bullies do) by threatening PJM that PA may pull out of the grid and do its own thing…unless PJM finds a way to fix his mess.