KY Utility Hints at Defunding Local Arboretum Blocking New Pipe
The radical environmental left continues a campaign to deny construction of new pipelines–ANY new oil and gas pipelines–as their way of strangling the use of fossil fuels. Here’s the latest example: Environmentalist wackos at the Bernheim Arboretum (about 25 miles from Louisville, Kentucky) have refused to grant an easement for 4,000 feet of land they bought *after* the Louisville Gas and Electric Company (LG&E) already had a state-approved plan to build a new pipeline over that land as part of tiny 12-inch, 12-mile pipeline. The Arboretum’s refusal, along with a few other property owners, means 62 homes and businesses have been denied the right to connect to LG&E’s natgas local utility system.
Read More “KY Utility Hints at Defunding Local Arboretum Blocking New Pipe”
Detractors of the Trump Administration pretend the only thing the Administration does is “roll back” safety and environmental regulations, lowering protections for citizens, making it more dangerous to live and work anywhere in our great country. In fact the Trump Administration has done an excellent job in correcting some of the wild over-regulation from the Obama Administration. But it’s grossly inaccurate to say the current Administration has only repealed regulations. Case in point: The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has just transmitted three significant new final rules (regulations) to the Federal Register that will strengthen the safety of more than 500,000 miles of onshore gas transmission and hazardous liquid pipelines throughout the U.S.
We spotted a great article in the Washington Examiner which points out that new technology from several private-sector companies can now capture and use carbon dioxide to create energy. One of those companies is one we previously highlighted, NET Power (see 
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Dominion Energy offers $1.2 million in critical community needs grants; Cuomo’s wrong on natural-gas pipelines; Outrage grows as National Grid’s denial of gas service to new customers spreads after state rejected pipeline project; Long Island senators quiet on gas moratorium, pipeline; INTERNATIONAL: BP pursuing bigger share of global LNG with new supply deals in U.S., elsewhere; IEA has no plans for gas reserves, urges members to boost gas security.
In August MDN told you that Diversified Gas & Oil was the high (and only) bidder for Ohio Utica assets owned by EdgeMarc Energy, buying those assets out of bankruptcy court (see 
Chester County, PA District Attorney Thomas P. Hogan famously announced to the world last December he would investigate Sunoco Logisitcs and their Mariner East (ME) pipeline projects for “crimes” (see 
The voters in Youngstown have finally, after seven years, had enough of the the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) and its useful idiots who have tried, and failed, to get a so-called Community Bill of Rights ballot measure (i.e. frack ban) passed. Last November Youngstown voters rejected the CELDF measure for the eighth time (see 
Last year the Pennsylvania House of Representatives debated and voted to approve a slate of five bills aimed at fixing not only the slowmo way the DEP approves shale permits, but also roll back some of the egregious regulatory overreach that now exists in PA (see 
Our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), published an article yesterday in which their expert number crunchers predict the world will use 50% more energy than it does today by 2050–in 30 short years. While so-called renewable sources of energy (which include hydro as well as solar and wind) will see a big jump up in supplying that increased need, the very sobering observation is that then, as today, fossil fuels will continue to supply the lion’s share of energy worldwide. How much?
MDN Editor Jim Willis had the pleasure of being interviewed on The Crude Life podcast earlier this week. Jason Spiess, an award-winning multimedia journalist, hosts several radio shows in addition to his podcast. The podcast/radio shows focus mainly on the Bakken Shale (where Jason lives and works), but he also branches out to talk with those in other plays. Jim talked about what he sees as the main stories happening here in the Marcellus/Utica region, as well as waxing philosophical about the role of fossil fuels–and those who (in Jim’s words) irrationally hate them. Give it a listen!
There is no way to track exactly how much royalty revenue is received by Pennsylvania landowners, because royalty income is not reported separately on the Pennsylvania income tax return. Royalty income is combined with rental, patent and copyright income on line 6 of the PA-40 state income tax return. However, the crack researchers at the Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office, a state government agency created in 2010, has a way of estimating how much revenue has been generated by oil and gas royalties. The IFO just released a report (full copy below) that shows they estimate royalties in 2018 hit their highest level since they began tracking oil & gas royalty revenue in 2010.
The Sierra Club, along with some lesser-known but equally radical enviro groups, filed a court challenge to an air quality permit granted by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency for the PTT Global Chemical ethane cracker plant project in Belmont County, OH back in January (see 
Pennsylvania is the #2 top producing natural gas state in the union, producing 6.2 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) in 2018. Ohio is the #5 top producing natgas state, producing 2.4 Tcf last year. However, West Virginia is rapidly moving up the ranks. In 2018, WV produced 1.8 Tcf of natural gas, the #7 spot, thanks to the Marcellus and, increasingly, the Utica Shale. It’s time to give WV the respect it’s due.