Fed Judge Rules States Can Take Years to Issue 401 Water Permits
In April 2019, President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) instructing the Environmental Protection Agency to review Section 401 of the Clean Water Act–the section that grants states (and tribes) the right to have a say in pipeline projects (see Trump Signs Executive Order Making it Harder to Block Pipes). In keeping with the EO, the EPA issued a draft new rule in August 2019 tightening up standards used in Section 401, creating new boundaries so states like New York and Washington can’t continue to “color outside the lines” by rejecting pipelines for political reasons, as they have both done (see EPA Issues Proposed New Rule for Section 401 Water Permit). A final version of the new rule was eventually adopted. Extreme leftist group THE Delaware Riverkeeper along with a variety of foreign-financed groups promptly filed a lawsuit challenging the new rule (see Riverkeeper Lawsuit Challenges Trump Changes to Water Permits). Last week a San Francisco Democrat judge appointed by Bill Clinton vacated the Trump EPA modification. Politics once again triumphed over science and common sense.
Read More “Fed Judge Rules States Can Take Years to Issue 401 Water Permits”
Although Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Richard “Dick” Glick is a nutty leftist, he’s not stupid. Glick can see that within a month or two there will be widespread shortages of natural gas available to feed gas-fired power plants, particularly in places like New England. Glick has voted against every single interstate pipeline project to come before him over the last three years he’s been a commissioner, claiming the pipes would contribute to mythical global warming. Now his actions are beginning to bite him on the rump with coming shortages. So what does he do? He blames LNG exports and tells power plants they better grab all the gas contracts they can now, so they can keep operating this winter.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Washington, hands off our natural gas; Sen. Manchin is right to support natural gas efforts; Celebration held for group protesting pipeline; NATIONAL: WTI completes ninth consecutive weekly gain; U.S. stockpiles in Cushing reaching historically worrying levels; The U.S. is turning green. What will this climate plan cost and who will pay?; Rising U.S. natural gas prices aren’t just a supply issue but a policy one; U.S. consumers likely to pay more for propane heating during the upcoming winter; Wall Street projects a “higher for longer” era for oil prices; Europe’s energy nightmare doesn’t have to be duplicated here; The U.S. oil supply is still out of balance.
This is an avoidable tragedy and very angering. Once again it looks as though Boston and the New England region will be hit with extremely high natural gas prices and will be forced to import LNG, most likely from Russia, to meet the region’s demand for natural gas. So says the Democrat-controlled Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Meanwhile, the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania sits a couple of hundred miles away with more than enough gas to meet New England’s natgas demand, but we can’t get the gas there because pipelines have been blocked (by the Democrats who control New York and New England) and because rail shipments of LNG are blocked by executive orders from Joe Biden. We can’t even ship it there via LNG tankers because of the idiotic Jones Act.
Three weeks ago MDN told you that propane prices at both the wholesale and retail level were going through the roof (see 
Even though Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf is already one of the most liberal governors in the country who delights in screwing with the Marcellus Shale industry in his state, some truly rabid leftists don’t think he’s doing enough to ruin the shale industry. A rogues gallery of the worst of the worst–including the PA Clean Air Council, Earthworks, Clean Water Action, and the Environmental Defense Fund–launched a website this week specifically aimed at pressuring Gov. Wolf to adopt methane rules so severe it completely strangles the Marcellus Shale industry into stopping.
Earlier this week the Potential Gas Committee (PGC) released the results of its latest biennial assessment of the nation’s natural gas resources. The report shows the U.S. possesses a total mean “technically recoverable resource base” of 3,368 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) as of year-end 2020. That number is 6 Tcf (or 0.2%) less than the amount of gas assessed in the previous period (from year-end 2018). The slight decrease breaks a trend of seven consecutive record-high resource evaluations. However, the report also shows we have more than enough gas to provide not only our own country’s needs, but also the gas needs for much of the world too.
The Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia (GO-WV) released a new report yesterday called “Gas Facts” (full copy below). The report chronicles the impact oil and gas has had on the Mountain State over the past five years. According to Charlie Burd, GO-WV executive director, “Natural gas is the state’s top-paying sector, supporting more than 82,000 jobs and contributing roughly $5.2 billion in wages each year. Clean, abundant natural gas will continue to drive economic growth and opportunities for generations of West Virginians.” It’s an interesting report. One thing in the report caught our eye immediately: Two “top 10” lists for gas and oil production. We’re suckers for a good top 10 list…
Terry Etam, an energy writer with over two decades in the business, has a short but brilliant take on what’s causing the mayhem currently happening in the energy world. Writing on the Watts Up With That? blog site (the world’s most viewed site on global warming and climate change), Etam makes the case that within a few months, the “divest fossil fuels” campaign is going to look like the dumbest movement in history…