NY DEC Releases Plan to Kill Off What’s Left of Oil & Gas Industry
It’s now obvious to even the dullest person that Andrew Cuomo and his completely corrupted Dept. of Environmental Conservation has one mission in mind with respect to the state’s oil and gas industry: Kill it. It began when Cuomo first placed a moratorium, later a permanent ban on hydraulic fracturing in the state (see Cuomo PERMANENTLY Bans NY Fracking in Now-Adopted Budget). The assault on New York O&G continues with an announcement yesterday by DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos (a Rockefeller stooge) that the DEC will soon release regulations to “reduce methane emissions from oil and natural gas sector.”
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It should come as no surprise that a group of far-left “environmentalists” who belong to New York State’s Power Generation Advisory Panel is recommending to Lord Cuomo that the state simply ban and block any and all new natural gas-fired power generating plants from being built in the state. Why? Because they have a mental condition that causes them to irrationally hate fossil fuels, including natural gas. That’s the only explanation that makes sense. Why else would Americans (who supposedly love freedom) advocate for the unconstitutional action of blocking a legitimate and legal business?
Last week we brought you the earthshattering news of a resurrection–the resurrection of the Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline project in the New York City area (see 
The vicious, relentless attacks on our freedoms and liberties in New York State continue. We can’t even catch our breath with the assaults coming so fast and furious. The latest salvo is by NY State Sen. Jessica Ramos (Democrat, East Elmhurst) who has proposed the Clean Futures Act (S.5939) which would not only ban the permitting and building of new natural gas-fired power plants throughout the state, it would also ban “the permitting of all new major facilities that burn fossil fuels, not just those that sell power to the energy grid.” In other words, any large office building, factory, etc. that gets built would not be able to heat with natural gas or fuel oil. New York is already closed for business, can you imagine the wholesale flight from the state should this Communist law get passed?
More than six years ago a group of landowners in Wayne County, Illinois sued the state for its refusal to grant permits to drill and frack in the New Albany Shale deposit. Over the years the case morphed and the plaintiff became Next Energy, LLC, which acquired the leases to explore and develop the shale under the landowners’ property. The huge news is that the U.S. Supreme Court has taken an active interest in the case and is demanding the Illinois Attorney General file a response to the case–a key indicator the Supremes are leaning toward hearing the case.
Big Green (Democrat) organizations are feeling full of themselves following the Biden/Harris election and winning control of the Senate. They’re making some pretty big boasts of what they’ll demand from Biden and Chuck Schumer. Demands like no new pipelines, ban natural gas everywhere, force all new cars to be electric, yada yada yada. One of the worst of the worst of the Big Green groups is the radical National Resources Defense Council (NRDC). In a blog post yesterday, the New York chapter of the NRDC lays out its 2021 plans that include their intent to try and block the construction of the New Jersey LNG export facility and block construction of the PennEast Pipeline in Pennsylvania.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is making official what has, until now, been unofficial (but enforceable via court orders)–state environmental agencies have exactly one year to dither around and then either grant or reject issuing a Section 401 permit for pipelines (and other projects) to cross rivers and streams and wetlands. Last week FERC issued a Notice Of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) to make the one-year time limit (a part of law under the Federal Clean Water Act) an official part of FERC regulations too.
The mafia, in the person of Andrew Cuomo, has taken over in New York State. The state is now officially, completely, dark and corrupt. We offer into evidence two recent actions to support our view. One is that two major Upstate utility companies, both owned by the Spanish-based Iberdrola, have agreed to stop advertising their natural gas service and won’t build any new gas delivery pipelines in a bid to discourage new gas customers from signing up. The companies have voluntarily agreed to cap their own businesses and revenues–to harm their investors–at the demand of Lord Cuomo. The second action is the state Siting Board has ruled they will NOT consider the negative impact on property values when approving huge wind and solar farms.
A landowner in Allegany County, NY who tried to block National Fuel Gas Company (NFG) from crossing her property with its Northern Access Pipeline to flow PA fracked gas into the Empire State, has failed. Last week New York’s highest court, called the State Court of Appeals, overturned a lower court ruling. The high court decision clears the way for NFG to use eminent domain to cross the woman’s property when (not if) the pipeline gets built.
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 projects (see 
New York City and Long Island are starved for new sources of natural gas. Utility giant National Grid supplies all of Long Island with gas, including NYC’s Brooklyn and Queens. National Grid’s best option to supply growing customer demand was a new pipeline. That option is now closed, thanks to Andrew Cuomo (see 
One of the worst overreaches and offenses of the Obamadroids was to redefine what “waters of the United States” (or WOTUS) actually means. As they were getting ready to leave power, the Obama EPA redefined WOTUS as everything down to large mud puddles–no lie (see