3rd Circuit Rules Insurance Co. Not Liable for Bad Fracking Fluid
We have a federal court decision from an interesting case to share. From June 2005 to October 2007, U.S. Energy Development Corporation contracted with Superior Well Services (of Pennsylvania) to frack natural gas wells owned by U.S. Energy in (of all places) New York State. Yes, fracking used to (still does) happen in NY–at least with conventional wells. U.S. Energy filed a claim against Superior in October 2007, saying Superior had damaged 97 of its wells during fracking by using the wrong kind of chemical mixtures in its fracking fluid.
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National Fuel Gas Company (NFG) and its pipeline subsidiary Empire Pipeline have worked on a plan to build the Northern Access Pipeline since 2016. Northern Access is a 97-mile project from McKean County in Pennsylvania into and through Allegany, Cattaraugus, and Erie counties in New York that will flow Marcellus gas into New York State. The radicals of the Andrew Cuomo and Kathy Hochul administrations have repeatedly delayed the project. NFG still wants to build it but needs more time. Last July, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) gave NFG an extra 35 months to get the project done–until Dec. 31, 2024 (see 
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse in New York, the “Empire State,” it does! In May, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (Democrat) signed a budget into law that includes provisions to ban gas stoves and furnaces in new residential buildings (see 
We spotted a press release from an energy company that works in New York State called 
Yesterday, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), an independent, nonpartisan group, named New York Governor Kathy Hochul (Democrat) its May 2023 “Porker of the Month” for signing a budget that bans gas stoves and furnaces in new residential buildings. Hochul signed a $229 billion behemoth budget bill that bans new construction from connecting to natural gas pipelines (outlawing new gas stoves and furnaces), as well as forces the shutdown of seven gas-fired peaker power plants (see 
Three New York City pension funds–the New York City Employees’ Retirement System, the Teachers’ Retirement System, and the Board of Education Retirement System–were sued this week by municipal employees for breaching their fiduciary duty and divesting from fossil energy companies. The plaintiffs allege the divestments have resulted in the loss of billions of dollars that otherwise would have gone to retirees. The pension funds went woke and decided they could no longer support companies that (in their wrong opinion) are creating catastrophic, man-made global warming.
We are extremely unimpressed with New York City’s main utility company, Consolidated Edison. Con Ed supplies customers in all of New York City and Westchester County with electricity, and major portions (but not all) of NYC and Westchester with natural gas. The company has thrown in its lot (colluded with) New York’s far-left Democrats on a plan to kill off natural gas for its customers, believing it can eliminate some of its competitors. Con Ed is more than happy to build new projects, like a six-mile electric transmission line through Queens, and then pass the $275 million price to its customers to pay back. The new transmission line is meant to deliver enough extra electricity that Con Ed can shut down the gas-fired peaker plants it uses to help supply electricity on heavy usage days.
Two days ago, we brought you the very sad news that New York State has fallen and is now under a Communist dictatorship (see 
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a true extremist, is trying to ban natural gas hookups in every single new home and business across the “Empire” State (see 
New York State’s chickens are finally coming home to roost. The extreme leftist politicians who run the state have assaulted the fossil energy industry for half a dozen years, maybe longer. The assault on fossil energy began under Andrew Cuomo and has continued under his successor, Kathy Hochul. Their actions are leading to electricity blackouts in New York City. Last Friday, the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) released its quarterly assessment of the reliability of the bulk electric system. While the state as a whole is not (yet) in trouble, NYISO says beginning in 2025, NYC “could become deficient” in electric power. Translation: The Big (Rotten) Apple is heading for blackouts.
New York politicians are so consumed with hatred of fossil fuels they are forcing residents to pay an average of $28,000 to convert their homes away from heating and cooking with natural gas, propane, and fuel oil (see 
This is another in our series of what it’s like living “Behind Enemy Lines.” MDN editor Jim Willis lives in Upstate New York (Binghamton area). Our freedoms in NY are being stripped away at an alarming rate. The radical left is in full control of the state, as is illustrated by a recent debate between Gov. Kathy Hochul (a far-left radical) and others in the Democrat Party even further to the left of Hochul, if such a thing is possible. The people left of Hochul are resisting a reasonable compromise in the current budget that would change the current timeline for methane accounting from 20 years to 100 years.