U.S. Supremes Signal Willingness to Curb NEPA Enviro Reviews
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that could fundamentally change how the federal government conducts environmental reviews. We first told you about the case last week (see U.S. Supremes to Consider How Far is Too Far with Enviro Reviews). The case deals with a proposed railway that would connect Utah’s oil-rich Uinta Basin to Colorado. The case considers what should and should not be part of a so-called environmental review. How far is too far? A Circuit Court of Appeals wanted more nonsense included in such a review. At Tuesday’s hearing, the court’s conservative justices signaled they might be willing to put some new guardrails around the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and its requirements to conduct environmental reviews. It seems the Supremes think things have gone too far with endless (costly) environmental “reviews.” Read More “U.S. Supremes Signal Willingness to Curb NEPA Enviro Reviews”
PennEnergy Resources, LLC, the 11th largest shale driller in Pennsylvania, agreed to a “deal” with the Biden Department of Justice (DOJ), the Biden Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Josh Shapiro Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to pay a $2 million fine and spend another $3.6 million on “upgrades” related to air emissions at its well pads. Based on inspections done in 2018 (six years ago!), the EPA accused PennEnergy of illegal air emissions at five “facilities” (well pads) in Butler County, PA. Yet PennEnergy is being forced to “fix” 17 of its oil and gas production facilities and implement “partial measures” at an additional 32 facilities in Butler County and neighboring Lawrence County. 
Yesterday, President-elect Donald Trump posted an interesting message to his Truth Social account: “Any person or company investing ONE BILLION DOLLARS, OR MORE, in the United States of America, will receive fully expedited approvals and permits, including, but in no way limited to, all Environmental approvals. GET READY TO ROCK!!!” The implication is that the incoming Trumpsters will move heaven and earth to ensure more major manufacturing and infrastructure projects are built here in the U.S.A. Finally, someone who gets it! 
What is the Biden Department of Energy (DOE) hiding? Four times now, Republican lawmakers from Congress have asked the DOE to reveal the scientific process it is using to “evaluate” how the federal government approves LNG export requests. The Bidenistas are stonewalling and refusing to comply with the request, implying they are using less-than-rigorous standards to produce a fake report. The Bidenistas are using political science instead of real science to evaluate LNG exports. You can expect a politically motivated report when the ditsy Jennifer Granholm (DOE Secretary) finally issues the LNG report we’ve been waiting for for the past year. 
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a final rule updating its regulations to include Version 4.0 of the Standards for Business Practices of Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines, as adopted by the Wholesale Gas Quadrant (WGQ) of the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB). The revisions are designed to promote greater efficiency and reliability of the natural gas industry’s operations and strengthen the cybersecurity protections provided within the standards. This action builds on (works in tandem with) the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) annual Security Directives aimed at protecting pipelines from being hacked. 
Yesterday, the Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) voted to award a contract to Gulfport Energy to drill and frack under (not on) about 30 acres of the Egypt Valley Wildlife Area in Belmont County. Commissioners also voted to open an additional 884 acres of Salt Fork State Park in Guernsey County for oil and gas development. During the meeting, commissioners had to work above the chaotic noise from anti-fossil fuel zealots who dressed up in Christmas attire and sang Christmas “carols” substituting anti-fracking lyrics. Yeah, antis made horses’ rear-ends of themselves, as they typically do. 
Last week, MDN told you the country’s largest electric grid, PJM Interconnection, which covers all or parts of 13 states, including PA, OH, and WV, is making changes to how it decides which new power plants can connect to the system first. The new policy *favors* adding natural gas-fired power over other types of power like unreliable solar and wind (see 
Upper Burrell (Westmoreland County, PA) town supervisors have historically been receptive (or at least tolerant) to the Marcellus Shale industry that has so blessed their town and Westmoreland County (
In January 2023, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, an extremist, floated a plan to ban natural gas hookups in every single new home and business across the “Empire” State (see 
Who let the DOGEs out? Who, who, who, who. (To be sung to the tune of the iconic song, 
Come and get it! Only ten companies have applied to plug 77 orphaned wells in Pennsylvania as part of $44.4 million allocated for PA’s Methane Emissions Reduction Program (MERP) grant program. By our calculations, more than $41 million remains in the pot unclaimed. However, the clock is ticking. There is a Dec. 16 deadline to meet if you want some of the money. Use it or lose it. What are you waiting for? 
Every budget season in Pennsylvania, it’s the same old dog-and-pony show by the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). “We don’t have enough money to pay our staff,” and “We aren’t making as much money from (insanely high) shale permit fees anymore, so we need more taxpayer money to make up the difference.” Etc. Yet a few months later, after the budget is adopted, the DEP somehow finds money lying around to donate to various leftwing causes. Case in point: The DEP announced yesterday it is donating $600,000 to 12 leftist organizations to spread more wokeness across the Commonwealth under the banner of “environmental justice” (EJ). 
Wow! Trump winning the election has clearly emboldened some CEOs in the oil and gas sector. Anti-fossil fuel zealots long ago figured out if they could stop new pipelines from getting built, they could block the growth of new shale drilling. The antis have been devastatingly effective in places like the northeast U.S. in places like New York, New England, and even in the three active Marcellus/Utica states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. The problem, in a nutshell, is that states have a role in approving permits for new interstate pipelines under the Clean Water Act. One CEO wants to see that changed.