PA Dem Senators Intro Bill to Ban New Shale Drilling Using Setbacks
In April, MDN told you about a radicalized faction within the Pennsylvania Democrat Party trying yet another ploy to block all new Marcellus drilling in the state (see PA House Bill 170 Kills New Marcellus Drilling Using Setbacks). Danielle Friel Otten, a committed anti-fossil fueler representing part of Chester County (Philadelphia area) in the Pennsylvania House, introduced House Bill (HB) 170, which would increase setback distances for shale wells from 500 feet to 2,500 feet — effectively killing any new shale well drilling anywhere in the state. In June, Democrat Party bosses shut down action on HB 170, telling the House to cancel a vote (see PA Dems Abandon Bill to Kill All Marcellus Drilling Using Setbacks). Some Democrats apparently didn’t get the memo. The legislation is back, this time being introduced in the Republican-controlled Senate by far-left Democrats Carolyn Comitta (D-Chester County) and Steven Santarsiero (D-Bucks County).
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This is how lawless dictators behave. The U.S. Senate, charged with approving the people who run various governmental agencies, including the Dept. of Energy, rejected Jeff Marootian, nominated by Joe Biden to be the assistant secretary of the Dept. of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). Why? Joe Manchin said Marootian wants to ban natural gas stoves by regulating them out of existence. Biden withdrew Marootian’s nomination–and then “quietly” appointed him as principal deputy assistant secretary of the EERE, where he is now the most senior person and the de facto head of the department. Lawless.
The Bidenistas at the Dept. of Treasury want banks and asset managers to sign on to the lunatic “net-zero” pledge to reduce the mythical increase in global temperatures to no more than 1.5 Celsius by 2050. The way to do it, according to the climate hucksters, is to limit methane and carbon dioxide emissions. In other words, quit burning and using fossil fuels. It’s pure insanity, but this isn’t the first time in world history humans have engaged in mass insanity. Back to center… Yesterday, the Treasury Dept. published?the “Principles for Net-Zero Financing & Investment” report, a document with nine principles (i.e., commandments) that Treasury and the Bidenistas say are voluntary for banks and asset managers to follow. In reality, they are requirements. Banks will disobey at their own peril.
In May, the Bidenistas at the EPA released a hellscape of new regulations (681 pages) aimed at forcing coal- and natural gas-fired power plants to close (see 
Dominion Energy, a huge utility company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, recently revived a plan to build four small “peaker” electric generating plants in Chesterfield County, VA, a Richmond suburb (see 
Everyone is telling the Bidenistas at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the same thing: Dump the faulty regulations you composed at the last minute that will result in closing most (if not all) of America’s natural gas-fired power plants. The latest group to tell (off) the EPA is a coalition of 87 businesses and associations from multiple states–including Pennsylvania and Ohio. Among the groups in the coalition are the Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association (PIOGA), the American Petroleum Institute — both the Pennsylvania and Ohio chapters, and the Ohio Oil & Gas Association. The coalition represents millions of people.
In April 2019, President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) instructing the Environmental Protection Agency to review Section 401 of the Clean Water Act–the section that grants states (and tribes) the right to have a say in pipeline and other infrastructure projects (see 
Jennifer Granholm, former governor of Michigan and current Secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Energy under dementia Joe, sat before Members of Congress in a hearing and lied to their faces, which is called perjury. Granholm told Congress she does not own individual shares of stocks in companies. She and her husband, in fact, do own stocks. As Secretary of Energy, Granholm promoted companies in which she and her husband own stocks, using federal government money to enrich herself. It’s gross corruption, and it’s perjury. Granholm needs to go. Congresswoman Claudia Tenney from Upstate NY is calling for an impeachment inquiry of Granholm to help the process along.
The Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) has “temporarily” suspended the operations of four fracking waste injection wells in Athens County. ODNR says the wells present an “imminent danger” to health and the environment. One of the wells, owned by Reliable Enterprises LLC, is located in Rome Township. The other three are owned by K&H Partners and located in Torch.
On February 14, 2022, Energy Transfer Marketing & Terminals, L.P. (ETMT) applied to expand the company’s ethane chilling capacity at the Marcus Hook Terminal (MHT) from approximately 75,000 barrels per day (bpd) to approximately 85,000 bpd. Because the facility is located in a so-called Environmental Justice (EJ) area, the DEP is conducting an even more painful anal exam (than usual) before issuing a permit for the expansion. Part of that examination will be a public hearing on Sept. 19, 2023, in Boothwyn, PA, from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Last November, one of the ten natural gas storage wells at the Equitrans Rager Mountain Gas Storage Area in Jackson Township, Cambria County (in Pennsylvania) began to leak. The well leaked roughly 100 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of gas into the atmosphere (see