16 State Treasurers Threaten Banks that Divest from Fossil Fuels
West Virginia State Treasurer Riley Moore is leading a coalition of 16 states threatening banks that play politics by refusing to lend money to fossil fuel companies. Moore says WV and the other states are “not going to take it anymore.” We first told you about a similar coalition back in May, when they sent a letter to the haughty John Kerry, telling him to quit pressuring banks to deny loans to fossil fuel companies (see M-U State Treasurers Threaten Banks that Won’t Lend to Fossil Fuels). The coalition (with some new members) is back and is fighting mad.
NOTE: MDN corrected this post to reflect the fact that OH and PA are not a part of this most recent coalition. However, OH and PA previously participated in a similar coalition (back in May) challenging John Kerry and the Biden administration’s calls for banks to divest from fossil fuels. Thank you to a sharp MDN reader for noticing the change in states participating in this new coalition!
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West Virginia, the state legislature in particular, is up to its collective neck in a mess of its own making. The legislature passed House Bill (HB) 2581 on the last day of the annual WV legislative session in April. HB 2581 changes how the State Tax Department values producing oil and gas wells for property tax purposes (see 
Last week Pennsylvania issued 15 new permits for shale well drilling, up nicely from the prior week of just 2 new permits. Ohio issued 9 new permits last week, and West Virginia issued 8 new permits. All totaled, the M-U saw 32 new permits issued last week, the most we’ve seen in a single week for some time. More drilling on the way!
In early September the Weirton, WV Zoning Board of Appeals rejected a request by Southwestern Energy to build a well pad inside city limits (see 
In April of this year, Northeast Natural Energy (NNE), a West Virginia driller, announced it had enrolled itself in both the Equitable Origin and MiQ certification programs to prove the natural gas it produces is “responsibly sourced gas” (see 
It was a pretty paltry week for new shale drilling permits in the Marcellus/Utica. Two weeks ago Pennsylvania issued 21 permits to drill new shale wells. They must have shot their wad because last week PA issued just two new permits–the lowest number in PA we’ve seen in…we can’t remember how long. Ohio issued no new permits for Utica drilling last week…zero…goose egg. Only West Virginia held out some promise, issuing seven new permits for shale drilling last week.
Everyone is scratching their heads trying to figure out why, given the price natural gas is fetching in both the futures and physical spot price market, natural gas drillers don’t drill more wells. The excuse given is that budgets are cast, plans made, and by gosh companies are finally showing fiscal discipline and sticking to their plans because if they don’t, investors will scream bloody murder. The last time we checked investors don’t mind spending a little more money to drill new wells if it puts more money in their pockets! That message finally seems to be getting through. Yesterday U.S. natural gas production surged to its highest level since late August (when Hurricane Ida struck, shutting down natgas production in the Gulf). Most of the gains came from more production in the Marcellus/Utica.
In July the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved a plan by Dominion Energy to clean up and “undo” the work done for the company’s previous Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project (see