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Will Penn State President’s Global Warming Views Affect Drilling?

A few weeks ago Penn State got a new president–the 18th person to serve in that capacity. His name is Eric Barron and he’s credentialed in all the right ways and is, in fact, a previous faculty member and administrator at Penn State. Barron has been a geosciences professor and has headed up various geosciences departments, including one at the University of Texas-Austin. You may think, “Great! Someone that will understand the importance of shale drilling!” We’re not so sure.

Penn State is arguably one of the country’s most important university systems, and home to MCOR–the Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research. The guys and gals at MCOR are very bright and very active. They engage in research and do a top notch job in educating Pennsylvanians on the miracle in their midst–Marcellus Shale drilling. So what’s MDN’s “problem”? Barron is a global warming alarmist, from what we’re able to gather. And we’re concerned his views, like that of other warmists, will color his views of all fossil fuels, including natural gas. With the flick of a pen he can do profound damage to MCOR and their mission–which would be a shame…
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State College Teens Help Out with Shale Network Water Sampling

Penn State and other organizations sponsor an initiative called the Shale Network. The Shale Network is a group of volunteers who sample local rivers and streams to ensure Marcellus drilling is not having a negative effect on local waterways. So far, we’ve not heard of a single instance where the testing has turned up a problem.

Part of the Shale Network is the Teen Shale Network, which involves local high school students from the State College, PA area to help with the testing–as a way to educate them on field science. To which we say, great! The kids were out freezing their derriere’s off recently, taking samples in Black Moshannon State Park…
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Deniers Would Rather Penn State Keep Burning Coal than Use NatGas

Witnessing the psychology of those who are anti-drilling, and the reasons for being anti-drilling, is instructive. Some people are honestly afraid that fracking and an increased use of natural gas will lead to an environmental holocaust. We’ll call them lazily ignorant. They don’t bother to investigate or think through the information being spoon fed to them with a critical, logical mind. They just accept the fantastical yarns they hear as the truth. Then there are the true believer fanatics who have gone on over the edge, believing mythical “renewables” can power the planet–now–if only we had the political spine to man-up and change. Bring back the horse and buggies! We’ll call them dangerously stupid.

Regardless of whether you’re lazily ignorant or dangerously stupid (i.e. regardless of why you believe), what you believe does matter. Case in point: A “few dozen” residents and students who live near Penn State in State College, PA want the university to forget about their plan to convert their electric generation plant from being powered by coal to being powered by cheaper, clean-burning natural gas…
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Central PA Counties Cooperate on Infrastructure for More Gas Use

A new initiative in central Pennsylvania aims to make it easier for residents, businesses and drivers to take advantage of the abundant, cheap Marcellus Shale gas being produced all around them. The new initiative is being led by the SEDA Council of Governments (or SEDA-COG), a multi-county economic development agency in central PA.

The $160,000 project will identify areas where new infrastructure (pipelines, rail, filling stations, etc.) can be built to deliver natural gas for those hungry to begin using it…
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Columbia Gas Sues State College, PA for Blocking NatGas Pipeline

Unbelievable. The main campus of Penn State University, located in State College, PA, wants to convert an electrical-generating steam plant from burning coal to burn clean natural gas–and the Borough of State College refuses to let Columbia Gas run a pipeline underneath an uppity neighborhood (appropriately named “the Highlands”) to provide said clean-burning natural gas to Penn State. So Columbia has filed a lawsuit against State College, calling their action just what it is: “arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable and against applicable law …”

The lawsuit, however, is on temporary hold for a month while Columbia and Penn State attempt to see if they can concoct a new pretzel-like route to reach the university, avoiding any uppity neighborhoods…
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State College, PA Mayor Wants City to Dump Fossil Fuel Investments

Long-time readers of MDN know that our theory of the real reason anti-drillers are against fracking and shale drilling is not because of concerns over water contamination and the list of other pretend excuses they spin, but because of their twisted views that all fossil fuels are somehow “evil.” However, that theory bears repeating from time to time for new readers, and to remind people of the fight we face against those who are unreasonable and militant in their opposition to clean-burning natural gas. The latest example comes from the wacky mayor of State College, PA, Elizabeth Goreham, who along with a few other small town mayors, is “urging” municipalities to “divest from fossil fuel companies.”

State College sits in the middle of abundant, cheap Marcellus Shale gas. Perhaps drillers and utility companies should just shut off the natural gas spigot to State College? Maybe they’d rather just burn coal or wood? Yeah, now that would be real environmentally friendly, wouldn’t it? Here’s the latest rant by the irrational and obtuse anti-drilling movement:

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More CNG Vehicles on the Way in Centre County, PA

More evidence that compressed natural gas vehicles (CNG) are taking off comes from Centre County, PA where local elected officials are applying for a grant to help purchase CNG vehicles for the county and local towns.

Aside from the cost to convert vehicles to CNG (which state and federal grants help with), the only thing that really holds back local municipalities from adopting CNG technology are fueling stations:

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PA Town to Vote on Fracking Ban

In New York State, it’s not uncommon to read about two or three misinformed town board members voting to ban drilling for all of its citizens. But it’s not something you read about happening in Pennsylvania all that often. So when it does happen in PA, it’s news.

No, a PA town has not recently voted to ban fracking, but Ferguson Township in Centre County will have a referendum on the ballot in the November election asking citizens whether or not they want to strip away the property rights of their neighbors. Ferguson residents who favor the U.S. Constitution, make sure you get out and vote!

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Shale Gas Innovation Contest IDs 12 New Technologies

Last October, the Ben Franklin Shale Gas Innovation & Commercialization Center (SGICC) announced its Shale Gas Innovation Competition. The results are now in and two organizations in State College, PA are the winners, receiving $25,000 each.

Polymics LTD won for their design of a lightweight, reusable and leak-proof mat system that is used at drill sites to contain mud and fluids while the drill pad is under construction. The second winner was the Thomas D. Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute at Penn State University for their development of a “patch box” system that converts diesel truck fleets to use natural gas.

Ten additional finalists were also named. In all, 12 new innovative technologies were identified that will help propel the shale drilling industry forward, making drilling safer and more efficient. From the SGICC press release:

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Pro & Anti Drilling Increasingly Divides Along Party Lines

With the new Pennsylvania law to regulate Marcellus drilling about to be signed by Gov. Tom Corbett, counties are already gearing up to vote on whether or not to accept the new impact fee provided for in the legislation. Although support or lack of support for Marcellus and Utica drilling cuts across political party lines, increasingly it tends to be Republicans in favor of drilling, and Democrats against. Take Centre County (State College area, smack in the very middle of PA) as an example, where commissioners are already planning a vote.

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SRBC Rejects Anadarko Water Request in Centre County, PA

At the the Dec. 15 meeting of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) held in Wilkes-Barre, PA, commissioners voted to reject a request from Anadarko Petroleum to withdraw up to 715,000 gallons of water per day from a well near Council Run in Snow Shoe Township (Centre County), PA. The rejection is rare because the SRBC informs requestors ahead of time that a request is likely to be voted down. Apparently Anadarko wanted to move forward with the request despite a warning from the SRBC.

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Rush Township PA Attempts Drilling Ban with Novel Ordinance

Those opposed to Marcellus Shale gas drilling in Rush Township (Centre County), PA, including a majority of the supervisors in the township, believe they have found a new and novel way to ban drilling that will skirt state law which says only the state has the right to regulate oil and gas drilling. This new way is to introduce an ordinance that prohibits drilling in any location that is a source for public drinking water supplies on the theory that drilling activity near those sources is a threat to the public.

It’s a stretch, but Rush officials are gambling this new ordinance may succeed where an outright ban on drilling would likely be overturned in court. The end result of an outright ban or this new ordinance will be the same: An almost total ban on shale gas drilling in the township, denying landowners their property rights.

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Energy Companies Big Help with Flood Relief in PA

helping handCentral and northwest Pennsylvania saw record-breaking amounts of rainfall from Tropical Storm Lee, and massive flooding along with it. It brought devastation to a wide area of Pennsylvania. Although some accuse the Marcellus drilling industry of only being in it for the buck, a number of drillers stepped up to the plate to help with flood relief.

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PA Religious Group Says Marcellus Gas Drilling is Immoral

As predicted by MDN on Friday (see here), the Pennsylvania Interfaith Power and Light (PA-IPL) religious organization declared in their press conference of Sunday that “ethical drilling” of Marcellus Shale gas essentially equals “no drilling.” Like many other anti-drilling organizations, the PA-IPL is driven by ideology: they seek renewable energy nirvana. They have drunken deeply from the man-causes-global-warming mythology/religion. They view fossil fuels as immoral. MDN suspects however, that the leaders of the PA-IPL don’t peddle bicycles everywhere they want to go but instead use gas-powered vehicles. And no doubt they fly around on jets burning fossil fuels to spread their inanities. And heat their homes with nasty coal-generated electricity. Can anyone say “hypocrite”?

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PA Religious Group to Lecture Industry on Ethical Drilling

This should be interesting. On Sunday, the Pennsylvania Interfaith Power and Light (PA-IPL) religious organization will tell the drilling industry how they should do their business. Apparently there is something called “ethical drilling” that the good people of the PA-IPL will reveal. Notice, as MDN has repeatedly pointed out, that ideology (or philosophy, or in this case, faith) is the reason anti-drillers—and make no mistake, this group is anti-drilling—oppose shale gas drilling. They view it as a threat to the renewable energy nirvana they want to impose on everyone else. In the case of this organization, they attempt to transform the drilling argument into a moral one, meaning if you disagree with their viewpoint, you’re immoral. Nice try.

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PA Municipalities Profit by Selling Water for Fracking

Pennsylvania municipalities have found a new market in the Marcellus drilling industry for excess fresh water and for treated sewage wastewater. The going rate they receive, depending on whether it’s fresh water or treated wastewater, is between $2 and $6 per 1,000 gallons. In some cases, the sale of water used in hydraulic fracturing of Marcellus gas wells is netting millions of dollars in extra revenue for state and local organizations.

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