Turning Ethane into Plastics – A Primer for Anti-Fossil Fuelers
Without natural gas, modern life as humans know it would cease. And no, that’s not hyperbole or bluster. And yet, non-thinking anti-fossil fuel protesters refuse to acknowledge that basic truth. We spotted an excellent article in Forbes that outlines the vital importance of shale gas (specifically the ethane that comes as part of shale gas extraction). We love the straightforward simplicity of the article in describing how the shale ecosystem works–and how it touches on virtually every aspect of our modern existence.
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The “best of the rest”–stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading: West Virginia accepted as Energy Council member; Four Permits Issued in Ohio’s Utica; Pennsylvania utility regulator sharpens focus on cybersecurity threats; Martin’s Ferry clergyman opposes Belmont cracker plant; Natural gas pipeline noise concerns residents; Oil and gas industry praises Trump’s new NAFTA deal; U.S. net natural gas exports in first half of 2018 were more than double the 2017 average; NYC lawyer’s comments at odds with city’s official filings on climate lawsuit; Forget Tesla, the money is in the unstoppable force of U.S. natural gas; FERC Chairman appoints Patricia M. French as new Administrative Law Judge; U.S. power producers’ coal consumption falls to 35-year low; 3 reasons nuclear power plants are more expensive in the West (it’s not regulation).
Columbia Gas of Massachusetts is in the process of rapidly replacing some 48 miles of local natural gas pipelines about 25 miles north of Boston following the recent explosion and disaster. They desperately need workers, some 1,300 of them, to do the work.
Line ’em up and knock ’em down. Last Friday a panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in Richmond, VA) heard four cases against Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) and Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP), one after another, bing bing bing bing. Both pipeline projects, very important to the Marcellus/Utica region, are in various states of litigation, brought on by the odious Sierra Club and co-conspirators like the Southern Environmental Law Center.
There’s no doubt the recent pipeline disaster in the Boston area (see 
Events related (or of interest) to the Marcellus and Utica Shale, primarily pro-drilling events. To have your event included (or if you are aware of a worthy event you believe should be on this page), please send the details and/or a link to have it included to the calendar@marcellusdrilling.com email address.
Anti-fossil fuelers are on a holy mission to stop a 3.5-mile, 8-inch pipeline from being built under the Potomac River by Columbia Gas (see 
In January 2017 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) granted final approval for the $452 million Atlantic Bridge expansion project (see 
Marcellus/Utica gas is powering natural gas-fired plants in Southeast Florida?! Yep. How? Through a series of pipelines. First the gas goes south from our region by hitching a ride through the mighty Williams Transcontinental Gas Pipeline (Transco)–all the way to Alabama. Then, the Sabal Trail Pipeline, a 1.1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) pipeline, runs more than 500 miles from an interconnect with Transco in west-central Alabama to the Orlando, FL-area gas hub. Finally, a pipeline related to Sabal Trail called the Florida Southeast Connection delivers gas from the Orlando hub into South Florida. It’s a beautiful thing to behold. Our gas going all the way to the Sunshine State. The experts at RBN Energy do a deep dive to connect the dots and identify the gas-fired plants using our gas…
What would happen if your faithful editor took to horseback to ride along the entire 600-mile route for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline as it travels from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina–in a campaign to *promote* the project? We’ll tell you what would happen in the media: Crickets. Nothing. No mentions. But when a young anti sets off to do just that, it’s heralded as a quest. Something akin to the Lord of the Rings–Frodo Baggins leaving on a mission to vanquish an evil foe, against all odds. Such is the case with Sarah Murphy, who left on horseback this week from the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. Television cameras were there to document her departure. Murphy says she is trying to call attention to the Atlantic Coast project, to whip up protesters to oppose it. She says the project will “corrupt” the mountains through which it passes. Perhaps like the Blue Ridge Parkway “corrupts” those same mountains? Here’s the story of a young lady and her horsey, off to rally faithful environuts…