Joe Manchin “Furious” Over Biden Implementation of IRA Climate Bill
We just have to say right up front, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia is either a lying sleazebag, or he’s really, really stupid. And neither option is very inspiring. Last year Manchin was lured into voting in favor of a massive government spending bill that previously was called the New Green Deal. It got renamed (misnamed) to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), to make it an easier sell to voters (see Tragedy: Joe Manchin Caves & Agrees to Big Green Build Back Better). Now Manchin is making noise to reporters that he’s “livid” and “furious” that the Bidenistas are actually following through and distributing money from the IRA the way they said they would–with money for rich millionaires who buy electric cars. Lying? Or stupid? Take your pick.
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There are a (very) few Democrats in Washington, D.C., who still support natural gas. It seems most national Democrat leaders (in Congress and beyond) have been coopted by the radical left of the party and now endorse the national suicide of dumping fossil energy. But not all Dems. A group of so-called moderate Democrats who aligned themselves with Bill Clinton formed a think tank in 1989 called the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI). The PPI recently published an issue brief (report) called “The Climate Case for Expanding U.S. Natural Gas Export.” The report says expanding U.S. LNG exports can lower global greenhouse gas emissions significantly, especially if fugitive emissions of methane are deeply reduced. The report even supports the construction of more pipelines here in the U.S. Imagine that! A group of Dems who support natgas and LNG exports. It’s like spotting a unicorn in the wild.
Please sit down, buckle up, and keep your hands inside the ride at all times. No, these are not instructions before boarding a roller coaster at your favorite theme park. These are instructions for those who buy and sell natural gas in 2023. While the price of natgas has been bumping along at the mid-$2 range since late December, don’t be lulled into the siren song of “lower for longer.” According to the Wall Street Journal, the “buffers that keep America’s natural-gas price fluctuations at bay are eroding,” and you can expect wild gyrations in price to happen in 2023.
We’re going to say it right up front to everyone who voted for John Fetterman for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania: We told you so. We warned MDN readers Fetterman is not up to the job. He had a stroke, he should have pulled out of the race, but he didn’t. And now the left (including the Democrat cheerleaders of the New York Times) feel comfortable enough to admit the truth that some of us were speaking last fall–that Fetterman is not fit to be a U.S. Senator. Fetterman defeated the odious Republican Dr. Oz, so he’s served his purpose. Now it’s time to dump him and replace him with someone else. That appears to be the plan by the left.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: West Virginia House OKs $105M for battery plant after debate; NATIONAL: RBN’s five-year natural gas market outlook; INTERNATIONAL: OPEC urges countries to invest significantly more in oil; Baltic nations go LNG hunting; IEA calls special meeting as gas crisis ‘not over’.
Tuesday of last week, Freeport LNG, which has been out of operation since an explosion and fire in June 2022, asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for permission to begin re-introducing feedgas back into one of three liquefaction “trains” (units) at the facility. A day later, FERC agreed, and small amounts of gas began to flow (see 
We spotted an article chronicling a visit to Pennsylvania by the Dept. of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland yesterday. She was there to tout money flowing to the Keystone State from the so-called Infrastructure bill in order to plug old abandoned oil and gas wells. What was interesting about her visit was not that she was there to promote the Bidenista agenda and proclaim how great the doddering old fool (her boss) is. The interesting thing is who was by her side: Rich Negrin. You may recall newly minted liberal Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro nominated Negrin to be the next Secretary of the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) just about 30 days ago (see 
Last October, the Pennsylvania Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee held a hearing in Philadelphia about potentially locating an LNG export facility there. The country’s largest natural gas producer, EQT, showed up to discuss the key role gas has played in reducing emissions here at home and the role it could play in helping other countries reduce their emissions. Labor unions were there to talk about the jobs that would be created by such a facility. Penn LNG, the company that wants to build such a facility (and has lined up $6.4 billion so far to make it happen), was there too. But you didn’t know about it–because the event was ghosted by “mainstream” media.
Attorneys for both the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) and those representing gas-fired power plants were in PA Commonwealth Court on Wednesday. DEP’s attorneys argued the court should toss a lawsuit brought by the power-generating industry against an obscene carbon tax called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) that DEP is trying to force on the state. Power generators argue in their lawsuit that RGGI will actually lead to MORE carbon pollution rather than less.
New shale permits issued for Jan. 30 through Feb. 5 in the Marcellus/Utica were about half the number of the week before, but the week before was a recent record high. There were 26 new permits issued in total last week, including five new permits for Pennsylvania, six new permits for Ohio, and 15 permits issued in West Virginia. Which is a turnaround from previous months. Lately, WV has puttered along with just a few (if any) each week. Last week WV issued eight new permits to Antero Resources and seven new permits to Tug Hill Operating.
Last September, the New York Public Service Commission (PSC), which oversees and regulates public utilities, approved the takeover of the Fortistar gas-fired power plant in North Tonawanda, NY, a town close to Niagara Falls, by Canadian crypto mining company Digihost. In December, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) offered its blessing too. All of which prompted the radicals of Earthjustice, representing two other disgusting radical groups–the Sierra Club and Clean Air Coalition of Western New York–to sue (see