New York

Energy Companies | Exxon Mobil | New York | Statewide NY

Former Fed Prosecutor Says NY AG Targeting Exxon “Tip of Iceberg”
November 20, 2015November 20, 2015

MDN is privileged to receive great insights from many sources. We currently have over 30,000 unique monthly readers. Sometimes those readers send us unsolicited comments and news worth sharing, like this time. John Marti, a former federal prosecutor and U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota (now a partner with the international law firm Dorsey and Whitney) sent us his insights into the investigation being run by New York’s Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Schneiderman, you may recall, is conducting a witch trial in an attempt to shake down Exxon Mobil for billions over the company’s previous statements about mythical global warming (see NY AG Targets/Accuses ExxonMobil of Lying about ‘Climate Change’ and NY AG Schneiderman Launches the Climate Witch Trials). Schneiderman is attempting to criminalize First Amendment free speech. Marti has some sage advice for fossil fuel companies. He warns that Schneiderman’s action is “the tip of the iceberg”–with more companies likely to end up in the crosshairs…
Read More “Former Fed Prosecutor Says NY AG Targeting Exxon “Tip of Iceberg””
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pipelines | Westchester County

Radical Bishop Finds Religion in Protesting Algonquin Pipeline
November 16, 2015November 16, 2015

It grieves us when we see someone misuse religion as an excuse to promote–or oppose–a purely political ideology. Such is the case with a retired Episcopal bishop from Westchester County, NY who claims a higher power blesses his opposition to expanding a natural gas pipeline that will bring carbon-lowering, clean burning natural gas to millions of people in the northeast. The bishop is really nothing more than just another 60s hippie radical trading on the good name of the church. Bishop George Packard, previously arrested for being an Occupy Wall Street anti-capitalist protester, was recently arrested for illegally blocking access to a construction site where Spectra Energy workers are working on the Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) project to expand capacity of the Algonquin Gas Transmission natural gas pipeline to flow more Marcellus/Utica gas to northeast markets. Apparently Bishop Packard feels that God would have him block cheap, clean burning gas, lowering the bills for millions of people and making their lives here on earth a little better. What explains this apparent defection from loving God to loving political ideology instead?…
Read More “Radical Bishop Finds Religion in Protesting Algonquin Pipeline”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | CNG/LNG | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

The Incredibly (Stupid) Hulk Praises Cuomo for Port Ambrose Veto
November 16, 2015November 16, 2015

Last Friday MDN told you that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo had once again bowed to political pressure from his lunatic left and vetoed a proposed off-shore LNG import facility called Port Ambrose (see NY Gov. Cuomo Vetoes Port Ambrose LNG Import Terminal). Not having much to do between Avengers movies, Mark Ruffalo (who plays Bruce Banner/Incredible Hulk) occupies his time by making the rounds at small anti-fracking protest rallies where adoring fans as vapid as he is engage in sickening hero worship–believing a professional liar (i.e. actor) actually knows something about fracking and should be believed. Hearing of Cuomo’s veto of the Port Ambrose project–a project that would have imported non-fracked gas from Trinidad, potentially displacing fracked Marcellus gas–Ruffalo issued the following statement from his Americans Against Fracking organization praising Cuomo…
Read More “The Incredibly (Stupid) Hulk Praises Cuomo for Port Ambrose Veto”
CNG/LNG | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY Gov. Cuomo Vetoes Port Ambrose LNG Import Terminal
November 13, 2015November 13, 2015

A rather abrupt end for an issue that was just getting started. Liberty Natural Gas filed a plan back in 2010, prior to the Marcellus Shale revolution, to construct an off-shore LNG import (not export) facility off the coast of New York and New Jersey–in the ocean. A floating LNG facility called the Port Ambrose project. A pipeline would run from the off-shore terminal to Jones Beach, NY and from there would connect to a Transco pipeline lateral. The U.S. Coast Guard recently gave their blessing to the project (see Coast Guard Approves Port Ambrose LNG Import Terminal Near NYC/NJ). Liberty has tried to sell the project to New York and New Jersey anti-drilling nutters by saying the gas would come from Trinidad and wouldn’t be that nasty, fracked gas loaded with radon (see Liberty Says “Non-Fracked” Trinidad Gas Better than Marcellus Gas). Needless to say that was a whopping error on Liberty’s part–to smear the entire drilling industry in a vain attempt to garner favor with Kool Aid drinking global warmers, just to make a buck. Liberty’s “it’s not fracked gas” rationale didn’t stop the antis–they were just beginning to organize with protests and rallies–their version of a tailgate party at an NFL game. And now New York Gov. Cuomo has gone and ruined it for them. Cuomo, with the stroke of a pen, has vetoed the project. It’s dead. Done. Finished. Won’t happen…
Read More “NY Gov. Cuomo Vetoes Port Ambrose LNG Import Terminal”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY AG Schneiderman Launches the Climate Witch Trials
November 9, 2015November 9, 2015

Once a witch-hunter catches the scent of a suspected witch–better watch out! It struck us as we read about the drummed up false charges New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is alleging against ExxonMobil–charges that the company has knowingly made false statements about their own complicity and contribution to mythical climate change–just how doomed we really are to repeat history. Schneiderman’s actions reminded us of something, and then we found it: “Rebecca Nurse, a sick and elderly woman of seventy-years old, stood for examination before the court on charges of practicing witchcraft on March 24, 1692. Judge John Hathorne, assisted by Judge Jonathan Corwin, conducted the examination in the meeting house of Salem Village before a crowd of people from Salem Village. The examination of “Goody Nurse” developed into a spectacle worthy of the attendance of so many onlookers, as a number of afflicted women launched into “grevious fitts” and openly denounced Rebecca Nurse as the cause of their torment. In the end, after one of the great confrontations between an accused and the infamous Judge Hathorne, the Judges found cause to bind Rebecca Nurse over for trial after which she was executed on Gallows Hill on July 19, 1692.” (University of Virginia). We’re facing the Salem Witch Trials all over again–some 323 years later. Apparently we didn’t learn anything the first time around. MDN calls Schneiderman’s current campaign the Climate Witch Trials–the prosecution and persecution of innocent companies based on a false belief that mankind causes global warming by burning fossil fuels. Now we learn Schneiderman may be gunning for more than just ExxonMobil…
Read More “NY AG Schneiderman Launches the Climate Witch Trials”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Companies | Exxon Mobil | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY AG Targets/Accuses ExxonMobil of Lying about ‘Climate Change’
November 6, 2015November 6, 2015

Eric Schneiderman, NY AG

We’ve written before about the lawless Attorney General from New York–Eric T. Schneiderman. He attacks his own constituents like landowners in the state (see NY AG Schneiderman Files to Dismiss JLCNY Lawsuit Against Cuomo), threatened the Delaware River Basin Commission that he would sue them if they allowed fracking (see NY AG Schneiderman Threatens New DRBC Lawsuit over Fracking), and he regularly bullies oil and gas companies (see NY Attorney General Schneiderman Subpoenas Shale Drillers and More on NY AG Schneiderman’s Bullying of Anadarko & EOG Resources). Schneiderman has just performed a breathtaking act of chutzpah: He’s launched an investigation and subpoenaed ExxonMobil, the largest oil company in the United States (4th largest in the world), accusing them of making false statements about so-called man-made global warming. He’s saying they contribute to global warming and they’re lying about their role in it–that they’ve made false statements to the public that contradict what their own internal research has found. That is, he is using the same strategy used against tobacco companies 20 years ago…
Read More “NY AG Targets/Accuses ExxonMobil of Lying about ‘Climate Change’”
Crestwood Midstream | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | NGLs | Regulation | Schuyler County

4 Antis Opposing NY LPG Storage Facility Lose Big in Local Election
November 5, 2015November 5, 2015

Today’s lead story on MDN is about the defeat of two anti-drilling Martians in Tuesday’s election–but this story is a close second in importance. Since 2010 a debate has ragged in Schuyler County, NY over whether or not to allow then-Inergy, now-Crestwood Midstream, to convert a depleted salt cavern along the shore of Seneca Lake into underground storage for LPG–liquefied petroleum gas (i.e. propane). We’ve covered the story extensively on MDN over the years. The current status is that an administrative law judge is reviewing the plan, but ultimately the head of the state’s Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will grant a final decision on whether or not to allow the plan to move forward. Unfortunately the DEC is mired in politics–controlled by Gov. Andrew Cuomo who is in turned influenced by his lunatic left wingnuts. Over the years some of those wingnuts like Sandra Steingraber, so-called “scholar in residence” at Ithaca College (paid to do nothing but trot around lying about fracking), and Josh Fox of Gasland fame have protested and gotten themselves arrested at the facility during publicity stunts. Antis need a forum to vent and they can’t get themselves arrested every day (that gets old), so they turned to the local town board (Town of Reading) where the LPG plant would be located. Board meeting after board meeting they bleated and blatted about the facility–to the point the board has forbidden any more discussion of the issue. So the antis mounted a challenge to the local town supervisor, two town board seats and the town clerk. In Tuesday’s election, all four antis running for those seats went down to a HUGE defeat. Wasn’t even close. Which is noteworthy, and heartening, that in our beloved overtaxed, over-regulated, over-liberal New York State there are still clear-headed people who see through the lies and smears of the antis. Here’s the story of their defeat, and why Reading is so important in this debate…
Read More “4 Antis Opposing NY LPG Storage Facility Lose Big in Local Election”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | New York | Research | Statewide NY

Bought & Paid For: NY Anti-Drilling Researcher Gets $1.25M Grant
November 5, 2015November 5, 2015

There’s a new thing going around–it’s called “advocacy science.” And boy oh boy does it ever pay big bucks! Here’s how it works: Attend an Ivy League school like Cornell, do some “research” with a pre-determined outcome (i.e. ignore real science), wait a few years–and collect $1.25 million?! That’s how it worked out for Elaine Hill, currently a University of Rochester Medical Center researcher who did sloppy research that she published as a Cornell student (without peer review) in 2012. The “study” found babies born near fracked wells are allegedly more likely to have low birth weights than those not born near fracked wells (see her paper here). Later studies that grabbed headlines used her work as its foundation (see MSC Devastating Critique of “Low Birth Weight Near Fracking” Study). Hill is now being richly rewarded for her efforts in aiding the anti-drilling cause. The National Institutes of Health (your tax dollars at work) have just awarded Hill–yes Hill, one person–a staggering $1.25 million grant to do more “research.” In essence, she’s set for life. Bought and paid for. A millionaire. All it took was trading on the name of Cornell University and ignoring real science to get there. Here’s the kicker–her degree isn’t in biochemistry or biology or medicine or any hard science. Hill’s degree is in economics…
Read More “Bought & Paid For: NY Anti-Drilling Researcher Gets $1.25M Grant”
Chautauqua County | Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | NRG Energy | Regulation

Dunkirk, NY Coal-Fired Electric Plant Closing in January 2016
November 4, 2015November 4, 2015

As MDN previously reported, a coal-fired electric generating plant near Buffalo (in Dunkirk) was slated to be converted to burn natural gas–a win/win for everyone (see Dunkirk, NY Electric Plant Saved – Converting from Coal to NatGas). Oh sure, radical environmentalists like the Sierra Club opposed it, but that’s to be expected. Crazy people do crazy things. Everything seemed to be fine until a competitor hauled NRG, the plant’s owner, into court to dispute the change from coal to natgas. Sounds equally crazy that a competitor can stop the change, but NRG says fighting the case will take years, so they’re just going to close the plant down (see Lawsuit Prevents NY Power Plant from Converting to NatGas, Closing). Sadly, last week the New York State Independent System Operator (NYISO) gave its blessing to NRG to close down the Dunkirk plant. This is an economic nuclear bomb for that community. The Town of Dunkirk gets 40% of its tax revenue from the plant. What will they do now?…
Read More “Dunkirk, NY Coal-Fired Electric Plant Closing in January 2016”
Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | New York | Oswego County | Regulation

NY Gov Cuomo Vows to Fight FitzPatrick Nuke Plant Closure
November 4, 2015August 11, 2016

Two days ago MDN told you that the FitzPatrick nuclear power plant in Oswego, NY will shut down, largely because it can no longer compete with electric plants powered by cheap Marcellus Shale gas (see PA Marcellus Gas Claims a Nuclear Scalp in Central NY). New York Gov. Cuomo banned fracking, so NY doesn’t produce any cheap, abundant, clean-burning natural gas. That’s a burr under Andy’s saddle. He detests closing the nuke plant because gas has won. So instead of letting market economics (you know, free enterprise) dictate what happens in NY, Cuomo is gearing up to fight the closure of the FitzPatrick nuclear plant. The company that owns FitzPatrick also owns another nuke plant in NY called Indian Point. Cuomo WANTS to shut down Indian Point–has been trying to for years. But he doesn’t want to shut down FitzPatrick. What kind of crazy man is he?…
Read More “NY Gov Cuomo Vows to Fight FitzPatrick Nuke Plant Closure”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide NY | Williams

DEC Official Says NY in Danger of FERC Taking Over Pipeline Permits
November 2, 2015November 2, 2015

It was just two weeks ago that MDN posted an article saying the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has had enough time to approve stream-crossing permits for the much-needed Constitution Pipeline. It’s now time to force their hand (see Time to Force NY DEC to Issue Permit for Constitution Pipeline). As we wrote in that piece, the DEC risks the very real threat that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) may step in and force the DEC to issue the permits. Now a high-ranking official with the DEC has essentially said the same thing we did–on the record…
Read More “DEC Official Says NY in Danger of FERC Taking Over Pipeline Permits”
Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | New York | Oswego County

PA Marcellus Gas Claims a Nuclear Scalp in Central NY
November 2, 2015November 2, 2015

FitzPatrick Nuclear Plant

Low-cost Marcellus Shale gas has just taken out a nuclear plant in New York State. Entergy, owner of the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant in Scriba, NY, says they will shut down the plant in 2016 or 2017 because of the “continued deteriorating economics of the facility” and because of “significantly reduced plant revenues due to low natural gas prices, a poor market design that fails to properly compensate nuclear generators like FitzPatrick for their benefits, as well as high operational costs.” The FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant generates 838 megawatts of electricity, enough to power more than 800,000 homes, and employs 600 people in Oswego County, NY. Essentially over-regulation that drives up costs have shut it down. The question now is, where will those 800,000 homes get their electricity? Oh, they won’t go dark. But they will begin to pay much higher prices for their electricity than they do now. Unless a new natgas-fired electric plant opens up…
Read More “PA Marcellus Gas Claims a Nuclear Scalp in Central NY”
Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Iroquois Gas Transmission | New York | Pipelines | Statewide NY

FERC Approves Expansion of Dominion Pipeline in Upstate NY
October 22, 2015October 22, 2015

Good news! The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) have approved Dominion’s $165 million New Market Project, a project that expands Dominion’s transmission pipeline from western New York across the state to the Capital Region of the state, near Albany. As with any fossil fuel-related project, radical environmentalists objected (see NY Antis Flood FERC in Fight Against Dominion’s New Market Project). The favorite tactic of anti-drillers is to “demand” that FERC exceed its authority by not only evaluating whether this specific project will have negative impacts on the envirnoment or health of people living near it–but also consider that the pipeline means more shale drilling and possibly (gasp) exports. FERC, under law, cannot consider those things. And when they follow the law and do their job, it sends anti fossil fuelers into a tizzy fit. As they are now with the announcement that FERC has approved the New Market Project (albeit seven months late)…
Read More “FERC Approves Expansion of Dominion Pipeline in Upstate NY”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide NY | Williams

Time to Force NY DEC to Issue Permit for Constitution Pipeline
October 22, 2015October 22, 2015

Enough is enough. It’s become quite obvious that NY Gov. Cuomo is up to his old tricks–delay and then deny. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) long ago approved the Williams Constitution Pipeline (see FERC Issues Final Approval for Constitution Pipeline in PA/NY). The Constitution is a desperately needed pipeline that will largely following an existing utility corridor where electric lines are run, going from Susquehanna County, PA into Broome County, NY (very near to MDN HQ), into Chenango County, Delaware County, briefly touching Otsego County, and terminating in Schoharie County where it will connect with the Iroquois and Tennessee Gas pipelines. The pipeline will not only provide northeast PA gas to people in the New York City/New England area, there will be taps along the pipeline to deliver gas locally to communities along the way. The only thing preventing the pipeline from being built is the New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation. They need to issue what is called a 401 Water Quality Certificate that allows the pipeline to cross streams, swamps and other bodies of water. It is a no-brainer. Yet the DEC is withholding the certificate. MDN received an appeal from the Constitution to show our support–to add our name to a list of people supporting the project (to send a message to Gov. Cuomo). We have, and we’re encouraging you to do the same…
Read More “Time to Force NY DEC to Issue Permit for Constitution Pipeline”
About MDN | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | New York | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide MD | Statewide NY | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Databook Vol. 2: List of 101 Infrastructure Projects Worth $83B!
October 21, 2015November 2, 2015

MDN has just published Volume 2 of the 2015 Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook. In 90 jam-packed pages you will get the latest information on what’s happening (or not happening) with drilling in the Marcellus/Utica region. Much of the Databook is a series of county maps–one map for each county where there’s permit activity for Marcellus or Utica drilling. Each county maps shows a dot for where a permit was issued–along with the name of the driller next to it. The maps also show major natural gas pipelines and compressor stations. Each map offers you a quick, visual way of understanding where drilling is happening, and who’s doing the drilling. In addition, MDN editor Jim Willis spent several weeks compiling and completely revising a list of major pipeline and infrastructure projects happening throughout the northeast (and Midwest)–any project that affects takeaway capacity in the Marcellus/Utica. Jim found 101 projects in this updated list (sample below). If all projects get built, it represents a flabbergasting $83 billion worth of investment! The 3-volume series is just $350 (single volumes are $225). All three volumes are meant to work together. This is the PERFECT resource for drillers, pipeline companies, law firms, landmen and many others. Take a look at our sample pages below…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Oct 27 Deadline: Will NY Oil & Gas Industry Challenge Frack Ban?
October 19, 2015October 19, 2015

A deadline is fast approaching in New York State. Next Tuesday, Oct. 27, the natural gas industry must file an “Article 78” lawsuit or lose its opportunity to do so. Last December NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo made a non-science, political decision to ban fracking in the state (see After 6+ Years, Andrew Cuomo Bans Fracking in New York). It took six months, but Cuomo’s useful idiot, then-Dept. of Environmental Conservation Commissioner (DEC) Joe Martens released a so-called “findings statement” on June 29 that outlines the DEC’s reasoning for the frack ban (for a copy of the findings statement, see It’s Official: Cuomo Bans Economic Opportunity & Prosperity in NY). Next Tuesday is the last chance for the industry to challenge the findings statement in court. Will they?…
Read More “Oct 27 Deadline: Will NY Oil & Gas Industry Challenge Frack Ban?”