Trump Visiting Houston Wednesday to Sign Pipeline Exec Order
Last week MDN reported that the white hot chatter that President Trump will soon issue an Executive Order (EO) overruling states like New York from preventing critical federal pipeline projects is about to become a reality (see Trump Exec Order Coming to Overrule NY on Blocked Pipelines). And indeed it is. This coming Wednesday, Trump will visit a union training center in Houston where he will announce (and presumably sign) the EO.
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We’re in the unusual position of defending Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, arguably the worst governor PA has had in a generation. But defend him (and his staff) we must, because the Wolf Administration is the object of a false and disgusting smear campaign by a prominent London tabloid called The Guardian.
We thought the tree sitting weirdos trying to illegally block construction of Equitrans’ Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) in Virginia had long returned to earth. But as we reported in early March, there are still a couple of wackos sitting, still engaging in a crime, in Montgomery County, VA (see 
A high school student reporter recently turned in an excellent segment for PBS’ News Hour Weekend program about the job opportunities for young people working on pipelines in West Virginia. Among the bits this intrepid young reporter unearthed is something we told you about years ago: Some pipeline welders make salaries of $1,000+ PER DAY! Not a typo.
You gotta give Questerre Energy Corporation credit–they keep trying, even in the face of total opposition. Questerre, a Canadian driller, has patiently waited for years to begin drilling on their extensive Utica acreage in the St. Lawrence Lowlands of Quebec–even though last year Quebec all but permanently banned such drilling (see 
Last September MDN reported that Southwestern Energy was the very first driller to earn the label of producing “responsible gas” from the Independent Energy Standards Corporation (IES)–what they call their TrustWell™ Responsible Gas Program certification (see 
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: ATI lands $45M pipeline contract, plans to hire workers in Harrison; Wolfs supports studying petition to cap greenhouse gases; Natural gas pipeline proposal concerns area residents; Our View: Severance tax seems hopeless; PennEast challengers rehash nixed claims, DC Circ. hears; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: The Permian Basin is now the world’s top oil producer; NATIONAL: NETL, Dedicated to fossil energy research; Low storage, prices equals bad news for U.S. gas producers; Is fracking out of gas as a hot?button Democratic issue?; Chesapeake Energy Corp. – an interesting outcome to debt refinancing; Mueller’s ‘foreign agent’ prosecutions may lead to probes of green groups; INTERNATIONAL: Environmental groups to sue Shell over climate change; Canada’s natural gas industry really needs LNG.
The latest edition of the MDN Weekly Digest is now ready. The digest is the meat and “essence” of each story for all posts appearing on the MDN website during the past week, collected in a single PDF document capable of being downloaded and printed. The Weekly Digest is available to paying subscribers only as part of your 
Last August the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a decision overruling the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to allow National Fuel Gas Company’s Northern Access Pipeline project to proceed (see 
In addition to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) slapping down the New York DEC this week (see our lead story), on Wednesday the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals slapped down both New York and North Carolina regulators who tried to block three important Williams pipeline projects, all related to the mighty Transco Pipeline.
Last November the Pennsylvania Supreme Court agreed to hear a case, Briggs v. Southwestern Energy, that is hands-down the most important court case to ever happen regarding the Marcellus Shale in PA. And no, we’re not exaggerating. A blizzard of briefs by Southwestern and those supporting Southwestern were filed in February (see 
One liberal Philadelphia-area Republican and two Philly Democrats (considered a “bipartisan” group) have just introduced a package of seven bills in the Pennsylvania House supposedly meant to “further regulate pipeline companies and provide greater oversight authority to state agencies.” Sounds so reasonable, doesn’t it? In reality the bills are aimed at shutting down new pipeline projects in the state. Why does it take seven bills? They’re flinging whatever crapola they can against the wall, hoping at least one or two bills will stick.
Did you know that at least $70 billion has been spent in Ohio on drilling and pipelines and other infrastructure to support the Utica Shale industry since 2011? No, we didn’t either. That is an astounding number! How about this number: Ad valorem (i.e. property) taxes paid by the shale industry from 2010 through 2018 have totaled ~$132 million. That’s money that goes to fund local schools and towns. Amazing!