“We are like tenant farmers chopping down the fence around our house for fuel, when we should be using Nature’s inexhaustible sources of energy. I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy… I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.”
THOMAS EDISON 1931
New study finds that children born within 1.24 miles (2 kilometers) of an active well site were 2 to 3 times more likely to be diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia between the ages of 2 and 7. Researchers at the Yale School of Public Health used the Pennsylvania Cancer Registry and…
Keep readingGuest blog by David E. Hess | PA Environment Digest | August 17, 2022 The cost of natural gas provided to customers by the seven largest natural gas utilities in Pennsylvania increased from 31 percent to 154.6 percent over the last year, according to information from the Public Utility Commission.…
Keep readingWednesday August 17, 2022 at 7:00pm EDT >> REGISTER HERE << Watch as seven residents of western PA travel to the Gulf Coast region to explore what it looks like to live alongside a cracker plant. Travel along with them as they ask the hard questions and wrestle with the…
Keep reading“Further proof that the soul of America is vibrant, the future of America is bright and the promise of America is real and just beginning,” said President Joe Biden. “The American people won and the special interests lost. That’s the choice we face. We can protect the already powerful or…
Keep readingThe Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) released an Annual Air Quality Review yesterday covering 2021. “The Air Quality Program publishes an air quality dashboard on the ACHD website, showing hourly air quality readings throughout Allegheny County. It shows the AQI at select monitoring locations for fine particulate matter (PM2.5), ozone…
Keep readingHere are some mentions of “methane” related to oil and gas production: DEFINITION OF GREENHOUSE GAS.—In this section, the term ‘‘greenhouse gas’’ means the air pollutants carbon dioxide, hydrofluorocarbons, methane, nitrous oxide, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride. H. R. 5376—241 & 242 SEC. 50263. ROYALTIES ON ALL EXTRACTED METHANE. (a) IN…
Keep readingBy Lisa Graves-Marcucci | EIP | August 10, 2022 Reprinted from Oil and Gas Watch Tucked into the southwestern corner of Pennsylvania are rural communities once home to generational farmland – Smith Township among them. The blessings of prime open spaces once reserved for farming took an unexpected turn in…
Keep readingBy David E. Hess | PA Environment Digest Blog | August 12, 2022 On August 12, the U.S. House passed compromise legislation that would make the largest federal investment– $375 billion– in climate change fighting strategies, including investments in renewable energy production, tax rebates for consumers for energy efficiency, electric…
Keep readingAn August 10, 2022 story by Zachary Mider on Bloomberg, Methane ‘Loophole’ Shows Risk of Gaming New US Climate Bill points out how “several energy companies have adopted an unorthodox interpretation of EPA rules to slash their reported methane emissions.” “An unorthodox reading of a single word in the EPA regulations allowed Range to…
Keep readingAugust 22-25, 2022 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center (Google map) The 2022 National Ambient Air Monitoring Conference, sponsored by EPA in conjunction with the Association of Air Pollution Control Agencies (AAPCA) and the National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA) is a must for federal, state, local and…
Keep readingMisplaced Faith: How Policymakers’ Belief in Natural Gas is Driving Rural Pennsylvania Into an Economic Dead End by Sean O’Leary | Aug 8, 2022 | Ohio River Valley Institute Key Takeaways: Policymakers’ pursuit of natural gas development is failing rural Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania policymakers of both parties are driving efforts to expand the state’s natural gas economy…
Keep readingFor hundreds and thousands of years, California’s Giant Sequoias and Coast Redwoods survived fires due to their towering height and super thick bark, but Earth’s climate disaster is now proving too much for them. While yesterday’s story by Bruce Melton, Mass Death of Sequoias Is the Harbinger of Earth Systems…
Keep readingGUEST POST: An Industrial Machine Moving Across the PA Countryside Leaving Behind Big Liabilities and Spreading Pollution Everywhere It Goes By David E. Hess – PA Environment Digest – August 3, 2022 On July 30, Gov. Wolf directed the Department of Environmental Protection to conduct an evaluation of how it…
Keep readingMonday August 8, 2022 at 7:00pm EDT >> REGISTER HERE << Watch as seven residents of western PA travel to the Gulf Coast region to explore what it looks like to live alongside a cracker plant. Travel along with them as they ask the hard questions and wrestle with the…
Keep readingGUEST POST: Republicans on House Committee Disapprove Final Reg. To Reduce VOC/Methane Emissions from Unconventional Oil & Gas Facilities Risking $500 Million In Federal Highway Funds By David E. Hess / PA Environment Digest / August 2, 2022 On August 2, Republicans on the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee…
Keep readingGUEST POST: David E. Hess / PA Environment Digest / August 7, 2022 On August 7, the U.S. Senate passed compromised legislation that would make the largest federal investment– $375 billion– in climate change fighting strategies, including investments in renewable energy production, tax rebates for consumers for energy efficiency and…
Keep readingLooking at the latest monthly report from GM on our BOLT EV, we see that it saved us $122 to $290 on fuel over the past 30 days, depending on the comparison… and that’s not counting the free energy from the sun that our solar panels contributed! GM COMPARISON: $4.419…
Keep readingPBS FRONTLINE Series Links to all 3 videos: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/the-power-of-big-oil/ DESCRIPTION In an epic three-part documentary series, FRONTLINE investigates the decades-long failure to confront the threat of climate change and the role of the fossil fuel industry. Part One charts the fossil fuel industry’s early research on climate change and investigates…
Keep readingRelated to Construction Of Mariner East 2 and Revolution Natural Gas/Liquids Pipelines In PA GUEST POST by David E. Hess / PA Environment Digest Blog / August 5, 2022 On August 5, Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced Sunoco Pipeline L.P., and ETC Northeast Pipeline LLC (ETC), both subsidiaries of Energy…
Keep readingA Reuters story by Manuel Ausloos yesterday, Heatwave in Paris exposes city’s lack of trees, caught my attention since it mentioned increasing heat from climate change along with the importance of city trees. As a third heatwave baked France this week, the heat radiating off the asphalt outside the Garnier…
Keep readingHickory and Mt. Pleasant Township were ground zero when Marcellus Shale fracking began in Pennsylvania back in 2004. As with many communities, gas development became an extremely divisive issue among neighbors. Today’s story by Mike Jones in the Observer-Reporter, DEP investigating mysterious odor emitted from Mt. Pleasant well site adds…
Keep readingWhile Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) urged passage of the PACT Act, Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) led the Republican opposition. Their respective votes were no surprise then. The Senate voted 86-11 to pass the bill. The 11 NAYs were all Republicans: Crapo (R-ID)Lankford (R-OK)Lee (R-UT)Lummis (R-WY)Paul (R-KY)Risch (R-ID)Romney (R-UT)Shelby (R-AL)Tillis (R-NC)Toomey…
Keep readingWhile some ‘shale refugees’ — the term I use to describe families who have moved away from the nascent yet burgeoning shale gas industry in western Pennsylvania — move out-of-county, some move out-of-state. Reid Frazier’s StateImpact story “Pa. sees Shell’s ethane cracker as an economic boon. But for some in…
Keep readingWhen it comes to lawn improvement in the Northeast and Midwest United States, “September is Lawn Month” for all the reasons outlined here. Oh sure, people are more revved-up to perform lawn improvement projects in the Spring, but September is actually the BEST time! The first step in that process…
Keep readingDue to all the oil and gas drilling violations in Pennsylvania, someone once said, “If they’re drilling they’re spilling.” This latest report from the former head of the Pennsylvania DEP, David E. Hess, brings us up to date: 16 Oil & Gas Facility Spill, Soil, Water Contamination Cleanups Under Act…
Keep readingFollowing the purchase of my first two Toro ‘Flex Force’ lawn and garden tools with interchangeable and rechargeable batteries (snowthrower and power snow shovel), the next four garden tools have been purchased without batteries as ‘tool only’ — which brought along a nice cost savings. The sixth tool in my…
Keep readingHomeowners have faced a steady stream of rising energy costs from fossil fuels as global situations have devolved. Meantime, our utility bills have been dropping. Americans have come to find that just because we sit on large reserves of coal and natural gas, that doesn’t guarantee cheaper utility bills, since…
Keep readingIn this latest episode of ‘shock and awe’ we learn that West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin III has changed his mind. The $369 billion climate and tax package forged in a surprise deal by Senate Democrats on Wednesday would be the most ambitious action ever taken by the United States to try…
Keep readingAccording to this latest news story, EQT’s transaction with Diversified “freed EQT of about $200 million in plugging and other liabilities.” On July 25th, reporter Anya Litvak covered this latest story about abandoned wells in our tri-state area in “Lawsuit claims Diversified and EQT played hot potato with abandoned well…
Keep readingSteelers training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe has truly evolved over the years. After a brief hiatus, Steeler fans can return to Latrobe to watch any of 17 practice sessions for free, along with free parking. One major change this year is that you need to get your…
Keep reading*This post originally appeared on The PediaBlog on July 22, 2021. “Cancers ravage people in Southwestern Pennsylvania. As community leaders, parents and caregivers, health care providers, business owners, researchers, advocates—we all want to do everything we can to support them and prevent others from having to face a cancer diagnosis.” “In Southwestern Pennsylvania, there…
Keep readingPlant a deciduous tree (one that drops its leaves over winter) on the southwest corner of your house. It will shade your house in summer, while allowing warm sunlight to pass through in winter. In fact, plant various types of trees around your yard to add cooling, while using evergreens…
Keep readingBy Sharon Pillar, Pennsylvania Solar Center This guest essay appeared first in the Tribune-Democrat on July 22, 2022 Sharon Pillar: Key to lower energy prices is diversification With energy costs soaring these days, it is time for our state to promote healthy diversification of the energy market in order to…
Keep readingLet’s call it the “Joe-Joe Dilemma” — and we aren’t talking cookies. More like “all the marbles.” Blockage of climate action by Senator Joe Machin could now lead to ‘climate emergency’ action taken by President Joe Biden. Things like ending offshore drilling, banning U.S. crude oil and LNG exports, and…
Keep readingImagine if you didn’t have to buy anywhere near the level of car insurance needed to protect yourself and others. Then, following a wreck, taxpayers paid for the repairs. In a sense, that’s what was just recently passed by Pennsylvania lawmakers, for their buddies in the oil and gas industry,…
Keep readingFuture drilling and fracking has been banned –in or under– Allegheny County, PA parks! Council voted July 19, 2022 to override Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald’s veto with a super majority vote of 12-3. Council actually added one vote to their previous super majority. “Nothing changed in the past 14…
Keep readingDubbed the “Heat Apocalypse” by a French meteorologist, heat records have now been broken in much of Western Europe, while England recorded its hottest day ever on Tuesday. “Spain and Portugal have seen over 1,000 deaths in the last week attributed to the weather. In Germany, fears are growing over falling water…
Keep readingMany of the stories surrounding drilling and fracking over the past 20 years have been “Stranger than Fiction” and this latest story qualifies. It was first reported in THE DAILY BEAST four days ago, and saw a follow-up story in today’s THE INTELLIGENCER. WHEELING NEWS REGISTER. Let’s start with the…
Keep readingWestern Pennsylvania is like ‘Swiss Cheese’ when you consider all the coal mines and oil/gas wells drilled over past centuries. Unfortunately, thousands of wells were never properly plugged, providing open conduits to the surface when newer Marcellus Shale wells are hydraulically fractured (fracked) under extremely high pressure. In today’s Pittsburgh…
Keep readingJoe Manchin not only delayed climate action by President Biden for 18 months, he has walked away without taking any action to secure a better environment for future generations. No surprise really, since he receives more political contributions from oil and gas than any other US Senator, and he made…
Keep readingPaying $20 a gallon for ‘special fuel’ was the last straw! While working as a landscape contractor, we used a wide variety of garden equipment powered by small engines. Some small engines used straight gasoline (4-cycle engines) while others used a combination of gasoline and special 50:1 oil (2-cycle). While…
Keep readingOn Tuesday, the Center for Biological Diversity sued the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) demanding action on the air pollution emitted by Colorado’s oil and gas industry. The news story appeared in THE HILL, “Conservation group sues EPA over fracking smog in Colorado” and reads in part: “We’re never going…
Keep readingYou can thank ‘frac happy’ Republican legislators like Yaw and Metcalfe for keeping our Commonwealth in the ‘stone ages’ when it comes to promoting a healthy environment. Also, their latest ‘gas buddy’ enabling efforts will likely cause Pennsylvania to lose federal highway funds. David E. Hess outlines the steep costs…
Keep readingMail trucks spend so much time starting, stopping and idling, that building a new mail truck fleet of EV’s makes perfect sense in over 90-percent of the cases. Right now, only 20-percent are planned to be built as EV’s. The old mail trucks still in use, only get about 8…
Keep readingJudge Michael H. Wojcik of Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court has blocked the full implementation of ‘Reggie’ (RGGI or Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative). It’s another step backwards for Pennsylvania and efforts to address climate change in a timely manner. Reporter Laura Legere added these additional details: “The paused rule required fossil fuel…
Keep readingIn a new YouTube video, two local doctors ‘spell it out’ for those wondering about all the air pollution that will be generated by the new Shell Cracker Plant in Monaca, PA, and what to expect in: “Eyes on Shell Watchdog Meeting – July 2022 – Dr. Matthew Mehalik &…
Keep readingThere was a May 23, 2022 story in Louisiana’s ‘Natchitoches Times’ with a headline that really caught my eye: “Pipeline Compressor Station to Bring Major Revenue” “An example of a similar facility is a gathering station near Robeline that has an assessed value of $5 million. Tax wise, it generates…
Keep readingOne of the major U.S. hubs for LNG processing, storage and pipeline transportation is located at the center of Marcellus Shale country in western Pennsylvania near Houston, Washington County, Pennsylvania. The hub began with the construction of MarkWest’s cryogenic gas plant, which also includes a large railroad loadout yard for…
Keep readingToday’s Pennsylvania Bulletin includes an “Intent to Issue an Operating Permit under the Air Pollution Control Act” for the Welling Compressor Station at 165 Carlisle Road, Claysville, PA 15323. The Welling is one of the largest compressor stations in our county, one of over 40 compressor stations and gas processing…
Keep readingJudging from a newspaper story in today’s Wheeling, West Virginia newspaper, the PTTGCA ethane cracker plant is still a strong possibility for a shovel-ready site in Dilles Bottom, Ohio, since financial commitments are still being honored. With the forecast 2022 completion of Shell’s new cracker plant, upriver in Monaca, Pennsylvania,…
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