PA Senate Fails to Override Wolf Veto of RGGI Carbon Tax Bill
Yesterday the Pennsylvania State Senate failed to override a veto of Gov. Tom Wolf of a resolution that would have stopped PA from entering the so-called Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), an obscene carbon tax scheme. The override failed by a single vote. Wolf’s patsy, Dept. of Environmental Protection Secretary Pat McDonnell, gushed that he was “pleased” with the failure of the override. What happens now? A lawsuit lingers that can still block RGGI, but if that doesn’t work, PA residents will begin paying MUCH higher rates (a new tax) for their electricity beginning July 1st.
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We keep hearing how the Bidenistas have softened their hardcore opposition to natural gas (and all fossil energy) given the war in Ukraine. We hear words mouthed by the administration, and Biden himself, that seems to indicate maybe, just maybe, the administration will stop its targeting of natural gas–at least for a while. And yet the actual actions we see coming from the administration, like the actions of the Bidenistas at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), say otherwise. Example: Biden’s FERC recently released a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Commonwealth LNG export facility located in Louisiana (full copy below). The draft EIS says the facility will have “significant impacts” on so-called “environmental justice communities.” That’s a loud and clear signal that this much-needed LNG project will have trouble getting approved by the hardcore leftists at Biden’s FERC.
You can’t escape mainstream media, and even many in the oil and gas industry, talking about hydrogen. The word is whispered in hallowed tones like a magic talisman. The “future of energy” is (shhhh) hydrogen, we are told. Even anti-fossil fuel cultists love hydrogen, albeit they are prejudiced–they only like certain colors of hydrogen (see 
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Murrysville marks site of natural gas discovery; NATIONAL: LNG services provider Excelerate Energy sets terms for $360 million IPO; Biden’s wasteful SPR release; Stopping natural gas pipelines yields tiny carbon cut; INTERNATIONAL: Global oil supply, demand & prices become clear despite the fog of war.
In January a new bill was introduced in the West Virginia Senate requiring the entire state government, all of the various state agencies and governmental departments, to stop doing business with any bank or investment firm that refuses to support coal, oil, and natural gas companies (see 
RBN Energy took the opportunity of Joe Biden’s big announcement last week (that he will release 1 million gallons of oil per day for the next 180 days) to revisit plans by 40+ crude and natural gas producers for 2022. How much will they spend on drilling this year? And how much will they produce this year? The RBN analysis, especially for the gas-focused sector (largely Marcellus/Utica companies) sees a rise in capital expenditures for drilling this year, but production itself is not predicted to rise all that much. For M-U companies, capex is predicted to increase by 32%, but production only by 10%. However, both of those numbers are somewhat misleading and overestimated.
In July 2020 Dominion Energy announced it was canceling the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP)–a 600-mile Marcellus/Utica pipeline project from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina (see 
Two weeks ago MDN brought you the news that New Fortress Energy has withdrawn a request to extend a previously-issued permit required to build an onshore LNG liquefaction plant in Wyalusing (Bradford County), PA (see 
On Monday MDN brought you big news from Bloomberg that Gulfport Energy is in talks with Ascent Resources to merge (see 
The Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) is highly respected by all of PA state government. IFO’s mission is to review state budgetary policy and render expert, nonpartisan opinion. The IFO, at the request of the Republicans in the state legislature, recently reviewed Gov. Wolf’s Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) modeling, presenting its findings to a joint hearing of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and the Community Economic and Recreational Development Committee on Tuesday. The IFO report finds that the money PA will spend on emissions credits at RGGI auctions will result in most PA electric rates quadrupling. You read that right–get ready to pay 4X for electricity if RGGI goes into effect and you live in the Keystone State.
On Wednesday, Pennsylvania House Bill (HB) 637, which would block the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) authority to limit carbon dioxide emissions (thereby blocking PA’s entrance into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI) passed by a vote of 126 to 72. Some 10 Democrats crossed the aisle to vote in favor of the bill. HB 637 now goes to the PA Senate for a vote. What then?
Two northeastern Pennsylvania State Senators, Gene Yaw and Lisa Baker, along with members of the PA Senate Republican Caucus (27 Senators in all, filed a lawsuit in January 2021 against the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) over its illegal ban on fracking (see PA