In 2004, Pennsylvania implemented one of the most aggressive mandates to adopt wind and solar energy. At the time, less than 1% of net energy generation came from wind and solar in the Keystone State. In 2023, after the state had spent nearly $1.5 billion in subsidies, wind and solar generated less than 2%. And…
Read More...After years of environmental activists circling Pennsylvania officials in hopes they’d be the “cherry on top” of their lawfare campaign, Bucks County took the bait and filed a suit on Monday against essential energy producers. But many questions remain, including why the suit was debated quietly with little evident public input and to what extent
Read More...There were 16 new permits issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica during the week of Mar. 11 – 17, down 3 from 19 permits issued the prior week. Pennsylvania issued 9 new permits. Ohio issued 4 new permits. And West Virginia issued 3 new permits. Penn Production Group (PPG) and EOG Resources tied for most…
Read More...The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) sent a letter to the Shell ethane cracker plant on Feb. 22 essentially saying, “You’re time is up.” The cracker plant facility has 120 days from Feb. 22 (until Jun. 21) to file for a federal Title V Operating Permit for air emissions. If the facility doesn’t at…
Read More...It’s full speed ahead for the radical anti-Marcellus Democrats in the Pennsylvania State Legislature. Last week, PA Gov. Josh Shapiro traveled to Scranton, PA, to do a dog-and-pony show announcing his personalized version of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) carbon tax that would apply only to PA (see PA Gov. Shapiro Proposes Own Version…
Read More...Honestly, we can’t heap enough praise on the excellent work done by Pennsylvania shale drillers. It is unreasonable to expect there will be absolutely zero problems when engaging in something as complex as drilling a mile straight down and then one to four miles horizontally underground. Nothing in life is error-free. NOTHING. There’s always a…
Read More...Water use restrictions have finally been lifted at the Beaver Run Reservoir in Westmoreland County, PA (near Pittsburgh). The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County (MAWC), which manages Beaver Run Reservoir, has issued a contract to CNX Resources allowing the company to buy up to 51 million gallons of water to use in fracking at nearby…
Read More...Last week, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro traveled to Scranton, PA, to do a dog-and-pony show announcing his personalized version of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) carbon tax that would apply only to PA (see PA Gov. Shapiro Proposes Own Version of Marcellus-Killing Carbon Tax). Shapiro calls it PACER, the Pennsylvania Climate Emissions Reduction Act….
Read More...Thanks to abundant, clean Marcellus shale gas, Pennsylvania remained the country’s top electricity exporter in 2023 while simultaneously reaching a new low for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from electricity generation, according to the Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office’s (IFO) latest analysis. Yes, you read that right. PA is producing more electricity than ever, yet CO2 emissions…
Read More...The highly functional and responsible Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), unlike its completely dysfunctional and irresponsible cousin, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), continues to support the shale energy industry by approving water withdrawals for responsible and safe shale drilling. Last Thursday, the SRBC approved 23 new water withdrawal requests within the basin, eight of…
Read More...Some fairly big news broke last week just as MDN editor Jim Willis was taking a two-day break. So let’s get caught up. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro traveled to Scranton, PA, to announce a proposal to “immediately pull Pennsylvania out of a multi-state carbon cap-and-trade program” (the so-called Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI) and…
Read More...This one is too funny. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a leftist liberal Democrat and the chosen candidate of the environmental left, appeared at a Philadelphia union hall for a speech last week to tout a hydrogen hub that is supposedly coming to the area, called the Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub (MACH2). The MACH2 project is…
Read More...CNX Resources was slapped with a “notice of violation” (NOV) by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) for withdrawing over 1.8 million gallons of water in Washington County, PA (for use in shale gas fracking) without first seeking the proper “Mother, May I?” approvals. The withdrawals happened over a 22-day period in the summer…
Read More...CNX Resources filed a request with the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) in April 2023 to build two pipelines — two for natural gas — along a 13.9-mile route in Bell, Loyalhanna and Salem Townships in Westmoreland County. An additional 4-mile pipeline would be built for water. Called the Slickville Trunkline Project, the DEP…
Read More...The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently (maybe yesterday?) posted a notice on its website announcing that conventional oil and gas well operators will not be eligible for new methane reduction well plugging grants (free money!) if they are not in compliance with state law paperwork requirements. Channeling their inner schoolmarm, the DEP tells…
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