Mike Bloomberg Spending $85M to Block Petrochem Plants in M-U, Gulf
Michael Bloomberg, the eleventh richest person in the world (with an ego to match his enormous wealth), has already spent $500 million of his personal fortune to shut down coal plants operating in the U.S. (but not anywhere else, like China). Yesterday, Bloomberg pledged to spend another $500 million to finish the job. He also pledged to “slash gas plant capacity in half, and block all new gas plants.” And just for good measure, Bloomberg is pledging $85 million to block the construction of new petrochemical plants in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Texas, and Louisiana. Nice guy, that Mike Bloomberg. By the way, his company uses fossil energy to power all those Bloomberg terminals that made him so rich.
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The old Energy Harbor coal-fired power plant in Pleasants County, WV, which had been offline since June 1 and was scheduled to be demolished, recently roared back to life under new ownership (see 
In early August, MDN told you about trouble brewing along the Gulf Coast between Venture Global LNG and its biggest customers: BP, Shell, Edison International (an Italian utility company), Repsol, and GALP Energia (see 
We continue to monitor the price of natural gas, which has remained mired in the mid-$2 range for months on end. Every time it seems like it might make a run for $3, the price slides–as it did yesterday (down $0.12 to close at $2.73). We spotted two somewhat contradictory stories about the price of gas, both published by Reuters. One story is about a prediction from Bank of America, which said in a note that if we have a mild winter (as some are predicting), it’s quite possible the price of natgas will crash below $2 during the first quarter of 2024.
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Arkansas is getting a first-of-its-kind gas plant; NATIONAL: Oil drops as Fed signals further rate hikes; What’s driving the rally toward $100 oil?; Exxon seeking U.S. subsidies for producing hydrogen from natural gas; INTERNATIONAL: Oil companies cautious about drilling as energy transition looms; French drillers may have stumbled upon a mammoth hydrogen deposit.
In April, MDN told you about a radicalized faction within the Pennsylvania Democrat Party trying yet another ploy to block all new Marcellus drilling in the state (see 
This is how lawless dictators behave. The U.S. Senate, charged with approving the people who run various governmental agencies, including the Dept. of Energy, rejected Jeff Marootian, nominated by Joe Biden to be the assistant secretary of the Dept. of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). Why? Joe Manchin said Marootian wants to ban natural gas stoves by regulating them out of existence. Biden withdrew Marootian’s nomination–and then “quietly” appointed him as principal deputy assistant secretary of the EERE, where he is now the most senior person and the de facto head of the department. Lawless.
America’s natural gas and oil industry announced “a landmark partnership” in late 2017 called The Environmental Partnership to “accelerate improvements to environmental performance in operations across the country” for lowering methane emissions (see 
The Bidenistas at the Dept. of Treasury want banks and asset managers to sign on to the lunatic “net-zero” pledge to reduce the mythical increase in global temperatures to no more than 1.5 Celsius by 2050. The way to do it, according to the climate hucksters, is to limit methane and carbon dioxide emissions. In other words, quit burning and using fossil fuels. It’s pure insanity, but this isn’t the first time in world history humans have engaged in mass insanity. Back to center… Yesterday, the Treasury Dept. published?the “Principles for Net-Zero Financing & Investment” report, a document with nine principles (i.e., commandments) that Treasury and the Bidenistas say are voluntary for banks and asset managers to follow. In reality, they are requirements. Banks will disobey at their own peril.
In May, the Bidenistas at the EPA released a hellscape of new regulations (681 pages) aimed at forcing coal- and natural gas-fired power plants to close (see 
Commonwealth LNG is developing a 9.3 MTPA (million tons per annum) liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal project located on the Calcasieu River in the Gulf of Mexico near Cameron, Louisiana. Commonwealth anticipates a final investment decision for the project in the first quarter of 2024, with the first cargo deliveries expected in 2027. According to an announcement yesterday, just over 10% of the gas that will get liquefied and exported will come from EQT Corporation’s Marcellus/Utica operations.