We take no pleasure in pointing out the lies being pedaled by those who pretend to be evangelical Christians but have been co-opted by the radical environmental left to do their bidding instead. We’re talking about the outright, 100% lies we find in an op-ed appearing in the Harrisburg Patriot-News, written by the President/CEO of what’s called the Evangelical Environmental Network–a politically left organization that laughably says they’re “conservative.” Whoops–yet another 100% lie.
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Category: Pennsylvania
PA AG Continues NatGas Witch Hunt – 2 Dozen DEP Workers Testify
Last week Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro sat down to talk with the editorial board/reporters of the Washington (PA) Observer-Reporter. He refused to confirm or deny he’s actively conducting a witch hunt of the PA Marcellus Shale industry, including trotting dozens of people before a grand jury–even though the media has been reporting on his grand jury fishing expedition since February (see PA AG Continues Marcellus Witch Hunt, Impanels Grand Jury). No worries. None other than the Deputy Secretary of the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (head of the DEP’s Office of Oil and Gas Management) has confirmed he appeared before Shapiro’s witch hunt grand jury.
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SWPA County Political Leaders Voice Support for Petchem, Shale
In a speech delivered October 31 to the P4 Climate Action Summit in downtown Pittsburgh, Mayor Bill Peduto declared his hatred for the petrochemical industry. He doesn’t want any more Shell crackers junking up his regional backyard. The highly negative reaction to Peduto’s idiotic (and pandering) remarks was swift. What petchem company wants to build in a region where the mayor of its largest city is trash talking the industry? In a bid to counter Peduto’s economically damaging remarks, some 20 county officials from Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Lawrence, Mercer, Washington and Westmoreland counties issued a joint statement on Wednesday to show their support for the petrochemical and shale industries in the region.
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PA DEP $1.9M Grants for 12 Clean Energy Vehicle Projs, Mostly Gas
The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced yesterday it has awarded grants totaling $1,891,000 for 12 clean energy vehicle projects through its Alternative Fuels Incentive Grants (AFIG) program. What’s striking about the list of winners is just how many of them are for natural gas vehicles/technology, as opposed to electric. The DEP has another $3 million to blow on these grants by the end of the year, with a deadline for applications of Dec. 13. Line up to get yours!
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PA House & Senate Republicans to Stop Wolf’s Insane Carbon Tax
Yesterday a bipartisan group of Pennsylvania House and Senate members held a press conference in Harrisburg to introduce parallel bills to prevent Gov. Tom Wolf from following through on his insane plan to tax carbon dioxide from natural gas-fired power plants–yet another attempt by Wolf to raise ~$300 million a year for Harrisburg politicians to spread around to voters in an effort to get themselves reelected. The proposed bills will prohibit the state from joining the so-called Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) without express permission from the PA legislature.
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State Seismic Network: Only 1 Fracking-Induced “Earthquake” in PA
Do you know how many Marcellus (or Utica) shale wells have been drilled in Pennsylvania since shale drilling began? We’re talking drilled, fracked and now online. That number is now over 9,000. You know how many times fracking has caused an earthquake (or “seismic event” as it’s called in the biz)? Precisely once. Which is statistically zero. The Pennsylvania State Seismic Network (PASEIS) keeps track of these things, and that’s what they say. One fracking-induced “event” that happened back in April 2016.
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U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey Floats Resolution to Block Dem Frack Ban
U.S. Senator Pat Toomey, from Pennsylvania, introduced a resolution two weeks ago that he (and other sane individuals) want to adopt to prevent people like “Crazy” Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren from banning fracking, should they ever get elected president. (Sanders or Warren as president is a truly nightmarish prospect, meaning the country has officially gone to Hades.) Best put some protections in place now before frothing-at-the-mouth socialist/communists like Sanders or Warren get elected.
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PA One of Two Finalists for “Massive” Ethane Storage Hub
The Appalachia Development Group (ADG) is leading an effort to build a ~$3.3 billion NGL storage hub in Appalachia. From the start, the thinking has been the storage hub would be located somewhere in West Virginia (see WV’s US Senators Lead the Charge to Build $10B NGL Storage Hub). But what’s this? ADG Chairman and CEO Steven Hedrick, speaking at a conference last week, confirmed potential sites for the project have been narrowed down to two. And one of those sites, according to “sources” (not Hedrick), is located in southwestern Pennsylvania.
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Anti Group Loses Yet Another Penn Twp (PA) Frack Ban Case
A leftist anti-fossil group calling itself Protect PT, in Penn Township (Westmoreland County), PA, backed with big money from Big Green groups, continues to sue in an effort to block shale drilling in the township. And they keep losing their lawsuits. Protect PT has launched multiple challenges to a local Penn Township ordinance which allows Apex Energy and Huntley & Huntley to drill and operate wells.
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PA’s Auditor General Presumes to Lecture State on Global Warming
Does anyone else grow weary of pompous Democrat windbags in high elected office in Pennsylvania posturing and preening to be the next gubernatorial candidate? PA’s leftist Attorney General Josh Shapiro is certainly one of them (see PA AG Continues Marcellus Witch Hunt, Impanels Grand Jury). We now have a second–the state’s Auditor General, Eugene DePasquale.
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FBI Investigates Wolf Admin for Corruption re ME Pipe Permits
Earlier this week the Associated Press, which sometimes can and sometimes can’t be trusted, broke an exclusive bombshell story in which they claim “sources” have told them the FBI has launched an investigation into the Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf administration over how permits came to be issued for the Mariner East 2 pipeline project. The focus of the investigation is on whether Wolf and his administration “forced environmental protection staff to approve construction permits” and whether Wolf or his administration received anything in return for those permits. Favors. Corruption. Kickbacks. That’s what’s being implied by the leakers who, of course, spoke only on condition of anonymity.
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Risberg PA-to-OH Pipeline Project Ready to Start Dec. 1
The Risberg Line, a 60-mile pipeline from Crawford County, PA to Erie County, PA, and from there across the border into Ashtabula County, OH, began construction in February (see Construction Begins on “Massive” PA to OH Risberg Pipeline). In October RH energytrans, the builder, said the project would be ready by Dec. 1 (see Risberg PA-to-OH Pipeline Project Almost Done, Ready by Dec. 1). And by golly, it is! Earlier this week RH energytrans asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for permission to start it up by Dec. 1.
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Range Resources Fracking Program – Meticulous & Thirsty
Washington (PA) Observer-Reporter reporter Rick Schrum recently went on a tour of fracking operations at a Range Resources site in Allegheny County, PA. Schrum interviewed Range’s water operations manager about how and where Range gets the water to drill and frack its wells.
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UGI Completes 4th Expansion of NEPA Marcellus Gathering System
UGI Energy Services, the pipeline subsidiary of UGI Corporation (utility company) has just completed the fourth expansion of their northeastern PA pipeline gathering system called the Auburn Gathering System. In May 2018 MDN told you about UGI’s plans to add another two compressor stations and more gathering pipelines to benefit Cabot Oil & Gas (see UGI Expanding NEPA Gathering System to Flow More Cabot Gas).
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Exxon Widens Search to Build SWPA Cracker Plant to Other Counties
Pittsburgh Business Times ace reporter Paul Gough has done it again–breaking big news related to ExxonMobil and their very active search to locate a site in the Pittsburgh region to build a gigantic ethane cracker plant. This time Paul’s sources are telling him Exxon has widened their search. A few weeks ago we told you Exxon was looking for potential locations in Beaver County, PA, near where Shell is building their $8 billion cracker plant (see Exxon Mobil Sniffing Around SWPA to Build Second Cracker Plant). Paul learned the search has widened to at least two other southwest PA counties.
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Making the Case for Crackers, Other Petchem Plants in SWPA
Speaking of cracker plants and the exciting news that ExxonMobil is very actively searching for a location in the Marcellus/Utica region to build one (see today’s lead story), the fact that Exxon is looking is driving leftist environmental kooks bonkers. They hate the Shell cracker going up in Beaver County, and they want to ensure there are no other such plants built anywhere in the region–or at least in Pennsylvania. The eco-leftists have bullied Pittsburgh’s Mayor Bill Peduto to join their cause, who recently stated in a speech, “I oppose any additional petrochemical companies coming to western Pennsylvania.” The president of the Pennsylvania Chemical Industry Council has responded to Peduto’s inane comments, exposing him for the dunce he is.
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