OH Court to Rule on Challenge of Law Allowing Drilling Under Parks

In January, Ohio House Bill (HB) 507 became law with the signature of Gov. Mike DeWine (see OH Gov. Signs Bill Expanding Drilling in State Parks, NatGas “Green”). The new law allows shale drilling under (but not on top of) Ohio state-owned land. HB 507 encourages (pushes for) more drilling under state-owned land. Even though…

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Big Green Demands Bidenistas Stop Talks re NatGas Certification

This story reinforces what we have said FOR YEARS: The radicalized environmental left will NEVER be satisfied that fossil energy is acceptable, no matter what we do to ensure it’s “clean and green.” As we have said so many times before, the environmental left is unreasonable–not able to be reasoned with. Irrational. Haters. We have…

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Mitch McConnell Calls Out Joe Manchin for Flip-Flop on Gas Stoves

U.S. Senator Joe Manchin is a typical politician. That is, he lies. His latest whopper concerns a measure he advanced to “prohibit” the Biden administration from “banning gas stoves,” which he touted in a recent video. However, just two years ago, Manchin opposed an amendment from Wyoming Republican senator John Barrasso that prohibited federal funds…

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W. Kentucky 53-Mile NatGas Pipe Moving Forward with State Funding

Last September, MDN told you about a new 53-mile pipeline project in Western Kentucky–a 16-inch natural gas pipeline to feed natgas to the southern Pennyrile Region (see Kentucky Spending $30M on New NatGas Pipe to Expand Biz Growth). The $115 million project is partly being underwritten by a $30 million grant from the State of…

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Decisions on Drilling Under OH State Parks Coming “Next Few Months”

In early June, shale drillers could, for the first time, begin to apply for permits to drill under (not on top of) Ohio state lands and state parks under newly formulated rules established by the Ohio Oil & Gas Land Management (OGLM) Commission (see Ohio State Lands Now Open for O&G Leasing – Virtual Ribbon-Cutting)….

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Virginia on Track to Leave RGGI Carbon Tax Scheme by Dec. 31

In 2021 as he was running for the office of Governor in Virginia, Glenn Youngkin pledged if he won, he would remove the state from the onerous carbon tax on coal- and gas-fired power plants called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Following his recent review of a new regulation to remove the state from…

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PBS Hypes New Mariner East Pipe “Sinkhole” in Chester County, PA

One of the challenges faced by Energy Transfer in building its Mariner East 2 (ME2) pipeline (two pipelines) to transport NGLs from southwestern PA and eastern OH to the Marcus Hook refinery near Philadelphia was the terrain in Chester County, near Philly. The area has a karst topography–think of it as Swiss cheese underground, where…

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All Construction of MVP Stopped as 4th Circuit Stays Second Permit

Yesterday MDN told you that on Monday, the clown judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (i.e., the 4th Circus) illegally stayed a THIRD permit issued by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) for Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to traverse a piddly 3.5 miles of the federally-owned Jefferson National Forest (see Colluding…

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PA DEP Sec. Negrin Sucks Up to Radical Anti-Drillers on Conf Call

What a disappointment Rich Negrin has turned out to be as Secretary of the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection. During a DEP Citizens Advisory Council meeting held yesterday in Harrisburg (and remotely, via teleconference), several virulent anti-fossil fuelers addressed the council, making wild claims against the DEP. Negrin simply accepted their babbling and told them…

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PA DEP Forms Ctte to Dole Out $5M in Shell Cracker Shakedown Cash

Although Shell maintains flaring and accidental emissions from its new multi-billion-dollar ethane cracker in Beaver County, PA, have not violated state and federal air standards, the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) says they have–on numerous occasions. Shell didn’t argue the point, and in May, the company agreed to pay nearly $10 million in fines…

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Bidenistas Dispense $163 Million to Plug Old O&G Wells in OH-PA-WV

In the fall of 2021, President Biden signed into law the so-called Infrastructure bill, some $1.2 trillion in pork barrel spending, passed with the help of turncoat Republicans (see Biden So-Called $1.2T Infrastructure Bill Passes Thanks to RINOs). Only about 9% of the $1.2 trillion will go to actual infrastructure projects like roads and bridges….

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Transco Seeks FERC OK to Expand Capacity in Alabama and Georgia

In April, Williams filed a formal application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to upgrade Transco pipeline’s capacity in Alabama and Georgia. The Alabama Georgia Connector Project involves upgrades to five compressor stations that will increase capacity in the region by an extra 63.8 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d). The mighty Transco pipeline…

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PA DEP Tees Up 46 Pages of New Safety Regs for Shale Drillers

Pennsylvania has a crazy quilt patchwork of regulations that apply to unconventional (shale) drillers. Many of those regulations come from various divisions inside the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP). However, there are other agencies where regs apply to shale too. Take, for example, the requirement to meet all of the confusing (sometimes contradictory) regulations related…

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Bidenistas Reject Radical Calls to Phase Out O&G on Public Lands

When the Bidenistas act outside of their predictable, normal behavior, it raises a red flag, making us wonder what they are up to. Last week a leftist who works in the Biden Department of Interior told a group of rabid leftists (her philosophical kin) the Biden administration will not, as the group demands, “phase down…

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FERC Issues Order Allowing MVP to Restart ALL Construction

Finally! On Monday, Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) builder Equitrans asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for permission to restart all remaining construction to install the final 6% of MVP in West Virginia and Virginia. Yesterday, FERC issued that permission. Ladies and gentlemen, start your bulldozers! Company spokeswoman Natalie Cox said crews will begin work “shortly”…

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