Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA
Liberals on PA’s IRRC Vote to Approve Insane RGGI Carbon Tax
Yesterday the Pennsylvania Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) voted to approve the final Environmental Quality Board regulation to slap an insanely high carbon tax, euphemistically called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), on PA’s coal and natural gas-fired power plants. The partisan vote was 3-2 (Democrats voting for, Republicans against) in favor of hiking electric rates by an extra $2.36 billion over the next 10 years. Is there any way to stop Gov. Tom Wolf’s illegal entry into RGGI?
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Yesterday a group of ~30 protesters rallied at the Historic Courthouse in Chester County, PA, and marched, while chanting, to the County Justice Center. Their protest is against almost completed Mariner East 2 (ME2) pipeline construction and against a long-completed and flowing Mariner East 1 (ME1) pipeline. The protesters, some who were left wing nuts, others who were honest folks who have been duped by Big Green and scaremongers in the media, asked county commissioners to file a Petition for Emergency Relief with the state Public Utility Commission (PUC) to stop any further construction of ME2 and shut down the already-operating ME1 pipeline that runs through the county.
Researchers at Penn State evaluated eight oil and gas wastewaters (i.e. brines), waste soybean oil, and commercial dust suppressants, comparing them to see how well they controlled particle pollution on simulated patches of road. If you believe the headlines about the study, you would believe wastewater is “not usually the best option” for treating dusty roads in PA. If you read the research study itself, you come to the conclusion the study draws no such conclusion.
Last week both Pennsylvania and West Virginia issued permits to drill new shale wells. Ohio remained skunked for a sixth week in a row. What’s going on in Ohio? Or rather, what isn’t going on there? PA issued 15 new shale permits. Not to be outdone, WV also issued 15 new shale permits.
Olympus Energy, the renamed Huntley & Huntley Energy Exploration (HHEX), continues to make progress in Upper Burrell Township in Westmoreland County, PA. The company currently has two well pads (Zeus and Calliope) with multiple wells drilled in Upper Burrell. Now comes word of plans for a third well pad, named the Selene Well Pad by the company. Olympus will present plans for the new pad at a hearing on Wednesday.
What’s happening with New Fortress Energy’s (NFE) proposed LNG liquefaction plant planned for Wyalusing, PA? We told you in March the company hasn’t given up on the plan, but for now is focused elsewhere (see 
Chester County, PA commissioners are, once again, attempting to instill irrational fear into county residents over the construction and operation of the Mariner East 2 (ME2) pipeline. ME2 runs hundreds of miles across the state, from eastern Ohio all the way to the Marcus Hook refinery near Philadelphia. The pipeline runs through Chester on its way to Marcus Hook. Chester commissioners are preparing to pay big bucks to hire a consultant to help the county draw up emergency plans for the pipeline in case it blows up or leaks. It’s a scare tactic. “The sky is falling!” MDN friend Garland Thompson has written a cogent and devastating response to an article highlighting news of the commissioners’ attempt to amplify people’s fears about ME2. His response offers the bigger (and truer) picture about ME2 safety.
In March 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic was beginning to enter the public consciousness, some 500 people from labor unions and industry met in Pittsburgh to launch an organization called Pittsburgh Works Together (PWT), dedicated to fighting back against those who want to end southwest PA industries including steel, natural gas, and petrochemicals (see 
Last October the Sisters of the Corn (our name for a group of leftist nuns in Lancaster County, PA) filed yet another frivolous lawsuit against Williams over a pipeline that crosses their land–a pipeline (Atlantic Sunrise) that has been up and running for years (see 
The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) recently issued a “warning letter” to Shell concerning the company’s ethane pipeline, called the Falcon Pipeline. PHMSA claims the pipeline committed two “probable violations” by failing to place pipeline sections at a construction site in Beaver County on protective padding. PHMSA told Shell to fix it, or else.
Yesterday the Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) released their latest quarterly Natural Gas Production Report for April through June 2021 (full copy below). It’s sort of a mixed bag with some good and some not-so-good. In 2Q21 the number of wells spud (begun to be drilled) was 120 new shale wells, up from the 113 spud in 2Q20, which was the point when the pandemic began to take hold in a big way. Sadly, gas production slipped in 2Q over the previous quarter, but not by much. It was still the second-highest quarterly production in the state for all time.
Something unthinkable is now being thought. Since the beginning of the shale revolution, Texas has been the country’s number one producer of not only crude oil, but also natural gas. Why? Because when you drill for oil you also get natural gas. Because of “associated gas” production, Texas has held the #1 natgas slot for years. However, Pennsylvania may actually have a shot at taking the #1 slot for natgas production.
A far-left “environmental” group calling itself POWER pretends to be religious in nature. Perhaps it is religious–the religion of worshipping the creation instead of worshipping the Creator. The Pennsylvania-based group claims fossil fuels are racist, that fossil fuel companies intentionally target communities of color to install pipelines, compressor stations, and oil/gas wells. Yes, these people are wack in their views. But they have the ear of PA’s failed governor, Tom Wolf, and they intend to try and pack the state’s Public Utility Commission (PUC) with people who are as equally wack as they are.
Several mainstream media outlets who either didn’t read or intentionally lie about the results revealed in a new study are reporting a link between fracking and impacts on surface waters–particularly in the Marcellus Shale. In fact, the study, published in the journal Science, shows the authors found no such link. They found “a small increase in certain ions associated with hydraulic fracturing across several locations” that likely come from accidental spills of brine. And those slight increases disappear after a few months.