PA Senate Republicans Advance Energy Info Office Bill, EHB Nominee
Yesterday, the Republicans who sit on the Pennsylvania Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee got work done while the Democrats tried to block work. The committee advanced legislation to establish an Independent Energy Information Office by a party-line vote, with Republicans supporting. There was also a party-line vote advancing Paul Bruder, an environmental attorney nominated by Gov. Shapiro for the Environmental Hearing Board (EHB) after Democrats failed to table the nomination. That’s right, the Dems tried to block a Shapiro (one of their own) nominee!
Read More “PA Senate Republicans Advance Energy Info Office Bill, EHB Nominee”
The Baker Hughes U.S. rig count hit a new low for 2023 five weeks ago (see 
In August, University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) researchers released three studies commissioned by the State Dept. of Health supposedly investigating whether or not there is a connection between shale drilling and childhood diseases, including cancer (see 
New shale permits issued for Nov 27 – Dec 3 in the Marcellus/Utica were much improved over the previous few weeks. There were 25 new permits issued last week versus 14 issued two weeks ago and just one new permit three weeks ago. So the trend is our friend! Last week’s permit tally included 15 new permits in Pennsylvania, 8 new permits in Ohio, and 2 new permits in West Virginia. Three companies tied for top place with 4 permits each: Seneca Resources in PA, Ascent Resources and Encino Energy in OH.
In May, MDN told you that since taking office in January, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has been a major dud — someone who doesn’t know how to lead (see 
Earlier this year, Roulette Oil & Gas LLC received approval from the federal EPA to build a shale wastewater injection well in Clara Township in Potter County, PA (see 
On August 17, the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) posted an Interim Final Environmental Justice Policy to guide DEP’s permit application reviews and outreach efforts in environmental justice areas throughout the Commonwealth (see 
In July 2022, MDN brought you news of a possible frac-out, or “inadvertent return” that happens when drilling mud pops out of places where it’s not supposed to — places outside the borehole being drilled (see 
Last week, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro announced that he will appeal a decision by the Commonwealth Court that blocks PA’s entrance into the obscene Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) carbon tax scheme (see 
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently published its 2022 Oil and Gas Annual Report. This is the seventh year in a row the DEP has published the report in an interactive, electronic (i.e., online only) format. Don’t worry; we’ve made the report a convenient PDF for MDN readers. What does the 2022 report show? Permits issued went down, but the number of new wells drilled went up. The big news is that natural gas production has, for the first time, gone down year over year in the Keystone State. It is the first time natural gas production has decreased for a given year in the modern shale era in PA.
We spotted an article appearing on the PBS-backed Allegheny Front website supposedly reporting a story about Pennsylvania lawmakers looking for “best practices” to adopt in regulating the soon-coming hydrogen hub projects the state will see. PA will see some investment in hydrogen from two different hydrogen hub projects led by neighboring states (West Virginia and Delaware). The article wants you to think that PA lawmakers are reviewing and considering various regulations they might use to protect the public in this uncharted new territory of hydrogen energy. The real thrust of the article, however, is to push a leftist narrative that the hydrogen hubs should avoid using natural gas as the feedstock to produce hydrogen.