PA DEP Tries to Short Circuit Commonwealth Court Block of Carbon Tax
Last Tuesday, Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court ruled that Gov. Tom Wolf’s obscene carbon tax, called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), will not go into effect until “pending further order of the court” (see Yes! PA Commonwealth Court Blocks RGGI Carbon Tax Regs…for Now). In an attempt to short circuit and circumvent Commonwealth Court and the lawsuit playing out there, the Secretary of the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), Pat McDonnell, followed Gov. Wolf’s orders and appealed the ruling directly to the Democrats of the PA Supreme Court. McDonnell’s lawsuit claims Commonwealth Court erred as a matter of law because it didn’t bother to hold a hearing to listen to McDonnell blather on about global warming nonsense and the urgent need to “do something” via an obscene carbon tax (RGGI).
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Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia are all scrambling to form intrastate working groups or other alliances in an attempt to be THE state chosen for one of four regional hydrogen hubs funded by the recently passed so-called Biden infrastructure bill (see 
On Tuesday, Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court ruled that Gov. Tom Wolf’s obscene carbon tax, called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), will not go into effect until “pending further order of the court.” What further action from the court is necessary was not disclosed. What is obvious is that Wolf’s attempt to force the state to join RGGI is now on a very long pause, until more court cases are filed. The end game (for Republicans) is to run out the clock until a new governor is elected in November (hopefully a Republican). Either that, or convince the 5-2 liberal majority of the PA Supreme Court (which is likely where this will end up) to rule against Wolf’s unilateral attempt to force the state into the RGGI compact.
In January MDN reported comments by a Shell representative who said the mighty ethane cracker the company is building in Monaca (Beaver County), PA was 95% complete (see 
Analysis by S&P Market Intelligence notes that new shale drilling permits issued in Pennsylvania dipped in February 2022 when compared to February 2021 (and dipped compared with January of 2022). Fair enough. The question is, Why did permits dip in February? The article alludes to a possible reason–a dip in the Henry Hub NYMEX price in February, going below $5/MMBtu. While price may have played a role, we believe there’s another contributing factor to the permit dip in February.
We spotted two different articles published over the past couple of days about the recently nixed Marcellus LNG export plant that was planned for Wyalusing (Bradford County), PA (see 
There’s a lot of finger-pointing going on about why a project to build a tiny $60 million LNG plant in South Philadelphia has come off the rails (i.e. dead). The developer for the project, Liberty Energy Trust, says Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW), the owner of the site, dithered around and took too much time to settle on a plan and now the “opportunity has passed” to build the project. Liberty has moved on to bigger and better things. PGW says developer Liberty Energy Trust tried to make “unacceptable changes” to the terms of the deal to develop the site and blames the company for not sealing the deal. Neither side has declared the project 100% dead, but it sure looks that way to us.
Last week Pennsylvania issued 14 new shale well permits, with EQT Corp. grabbing eight (seven of them on a single pad in Fayette County), and Coterra Energy (formerly Cabot Oil & Gas) receiving three (all on the same pad in Susquehanna County). Ohio issued ten new permits last week, with three going to a relative newcomer, Utica Resource Operating (same pad in Guernsey Count) and three for Encino Energy (same pad in Harrison County). West Virginia got skunked and shows no new shale permits issued last week. Pity.
Yesterday the Pennsylvania State Senate failed to override a veto of Gov. Tom Wolf of a resolution that would have stopped PA from entering the so-called Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), an obscene carbon tax scheme. The override failed by a single vote. Wolf’s patsy, Dept. of Environmental Protection Secretary Pat McDonnell, gushed that he was “pleased” with the failure of the override. What happens now? A lawsuit lingers that can still block RGGI, but if that doesn’t work, PA residents will begin paying MUCH higher rates (a new tax) for their electricity beginning July 1st.
Two weeks ago MDN brought you the news that New Fortress Energy has withdrawn a request to extend a previously-issued permit required to build an onshore LNG liquefaction plant in Wyalusing (Bradford County), PA (see 
The Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) is highly respected by all of PA state government. IFO’s mission is to review state budgetary policy and render expert, nonpartisan opinion. The IFO, at the request of the Republicans in the state legislature, recently reviewed Gov. Wolf’s Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) modeling, presenting its findings to a joint hearing of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and the Community Economic and Recreational Development Committee on Tuesday. The IFO report finds that the money PA will spend on emissions credits at RGGI auctions will result in most PA electric rates quadrupling. You read that right–get ready to pay 4X for electricity if RGGI goes into effect and you live in the Keystone State.
On Wednesday, Pennsylvania House Bill (HB) 637, which would block the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) authority to limit carbon dioxide emissions (thereby blocking PA’s entrance into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI) passed by a vote of 126 to 72. Some 10 Democrats crossed the aisle to vote in favor of the bill. HB 637 now goes to the PA Senate for a vote. What then?
Two northeastern Pennsylvania State Senators, Gene Yaw and Lisa Baker, along with members of the PA Senate Republican Caucus (27 Senators in all, filed a lawsuit in January 2021 against the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) over its illegal ban on fracking (see PA