GOOGLE THIS: “Are golf courses toxic to the environment?”
It’s interesting to see the top search results, whether they come from Google or DuckDuckGo. Having used the latter search engine, let’s look at the top results.
Bob's Blog
Pennsylvania – Landscaping – Energy – Environment
Pennsylvania Landscaping, Energy & Environment
Bob’s Blog shares photos of landscaping, energy and environmental issues, related to Marcellus Shale gas production and renewables in Pennsylvania.
“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
Bob’s Blog
Still Want That GM, Ford or Tesla EV?
David Shepardson of Reuters reports on February 3, 2023, U.S. says more Tesla, Ford, GM EVs eligible for tax credits SUVs can be priced at up to $80,000 to qualify for EV tax credits, while cars, sedans and wagons can only be priced at up to $55,000. The reversal by Treasury is a win for…
Shell Oil Company Faces Lawsuit in Pennsylvania
Environmental Groups File Notice Of Intent To Sue Shell Chemical For Air Pollution Violations At Its Petrochemical Plant In Beaver County By David E. Hess | PA Environment Digest Blog | February 2, 2023 On February 2, the Environmental Integrity Project and Clean Air Council filed a notice of intent to sue Shell Chemical Appalachia…
Patagonia BIPV and Home Depot Solar
On January 28, 2023, Jennifer Sensiba writes in CleanTechnica: Patagonia & Home Depot Are Both Increasing Their Solar Footprints Developing its own unique transparent photovoltaic (PV) covering, NEXT had a remarkable partnership with Patagonia outdoor apparel company of Ventura. Together they installed 22 energy-generating windows on the south side of Olive Building located in the…
Chevron: “War Profiteering”
Jake Johnson writes on Common Dreams January 27, 2023: ‘The Definition of War Profiteering’: Chevron Posts Record $35.5 Billion in Profit for 2022 Chevron announced Friday that it brought in a record-shattering $35.5 billion in profits in 2022, a sum that campaigners said highlights just how much the company benefited from global energy market chaos…
PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE: Spotted Lanternfly (SLF)
Can we win the battle against the Spotted Lanternfly invasion? Or will it be a repeat of Emerald Ash Borer’s mass destruction? While I don’t have those answers, I can share information. Crux of the problem: In China, a parasitic wasp helps keep spotted lanternflies in check, but the US doesn’t have that specific wasp. “SLF…
Monongahela River Valley Air Pollution Update – Pittsburgh
January 26, 2023 Group Against Smog & Pollution news release: The U.S. Steel Edgar Thomson Emissions Consent Decree Explained included the following details: As GASP reported Monday, like it or not, U.S. Steel’s Edgar Thomson facility is now subject to the terms of a court-approved consent decree entered into by the company, the Allegheny County…
Pennsylvania Oil & Gas: Permits / Compliance Record / PA Bulletin
On January 28, 2023 David E. Hess published the following information on the Pa Environment Digest Blog PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment – Jan. 28 The following DEP notices were published in the January 28 PA Bulletin related to oil and gas industry facilities. Many of the notices offer the…
Solar Farm vs. Farming for Ethanol
Steve Hanley writes in cleanTechnica on January 26, 2023, Why Solar & Farming Is A Match Made In Heaven There is a popular myth in the farming community that solar and agriculture don’t mix. That may be a common attitude but that doesn’t mean it is accurate. People used to believe that asbestos was a…
Good News from Japan in Solar Energy Research
In 2022, we learned of a breakthrough by researchers at Tohoku University on a highly transparent solar cell, “Highly Transparent Solar Cell with 2D Atomic Sheet Successfully Fabricated” An optical image of a highly-transparent solar cell fabricated with a 2D atomic sheet. ©Toshiaki Kato A research group has fabricated a highly transparent solar cell with a…
Home Utility Price Spikes in 2021-2022
Rising trendlines for natural gas and electricity prices matched rising natural gas commodity prices over the same 24 month period. I did a month-by-month analysis of the past two years, to see what influence rising natural gas prices had on our home gas and electricity utility bills. The reason electricity was included in my analysis,…
PA Radioactive Oil & Gas Test Sites Uncovered & Mapped by Public Herald
Josh Pribanic, Melissa Troutman and the staff at Public Herald have worked hard to share these findings with the public. This is their documented report from January 2022. For about six years, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has obscured the radioactive hazards of oil and gas operations. Ever since the 2016 release of…
Overrun by the Oil & Gas Industry, Shunned by the DEP
An area of northern Smith Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania has been turned into a shale gas megapolis over the past decade. Gas well pads, compressor stations, and huge cryogenic gas plants. On Christmas morning, families evacuated when the ETC Revolution cryogenic plant went up in flames. The DEP emergency hotline was unresponsive. First responders were…
Pennsylvania Oil & Gas: Permits/Compliance Record/PA Bulletin
By David E. Hess | PA Environment Digest Blog | January 20, 2023 PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment – Jan. 21 The following DEP notices were published in the January 21 PA Bulletin related to oil and gas industry facilities. Many of the notices offer the opportunity for public comments.…
Mystery Solved: Cause of the 7-mile Fish Kill on Chartiers Creek
Pennsylvania officials got reports of a major fish kill in Chartiers Creek in mid-July 2021. Eighteen months later, we finally have some answers! July 17, 2021 – Pennsylvania officials are investigating a “significant fish kill” along a 7-mile stretch of Chartiers Creek that has left hundreds if not thousands of suckers, carp, minnows and crayfish…
Pittsburgh Hospital Groups Promote Fracked Gas Despite Known Health Risks
On Friday morning, January 20, 2023, PA Senate Republicans held a mostly one-sided, pro-fracking, “public hearing” in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. David Hess of the PA Environment Digest Blog, filed a report on the meeting here: Natural Gas Industry, Senate Republicans Launch Effort To Unleash The Industry, Reduce Regulation, Call For Automatic Approval Of Permits, Limit Public…
Schools Need Radon Testing
GUEST POST from the January 18, 2023 PediaBlog by Dr. Ned Ketyer: Dr. Ketyer & Dash Every January during National Radon Action Month, the Children’s Environmental Health Network reminds us about the importance of testing our homes, schools, and businesses for the colorless, odorless, tasteless, naturally occurring, radioactive gas that seeps into our homes and threatens our…
The Sky is Falling (actually commodity prices for methane gas)
Matthew Fox of Business Insider writes in a story on January 22, 2023, Natural gas prices have crashed 50% in less than a month, and now an energy CEO is ringing the alarm Natural gas prices have plunged over the past month as an unusually warm winter hits both the US and Europe, denting demand for the…
GERMAN PLAN: Erect Several Wind Turbines Daily
Chris Reiter writes in Bloomberg on January 14, 2023, “Germany Targets Three New Windmills a Day for Energy Reboot” For the long-term transition away from coal, oil and natural gas, Germany needs to increase electricity generation by one third by 2030 and then double that in the following decade, Scholz said in an interview with…
Personhood for a Pittsburgh Tree
‘The Sovereign Tree’ Bill O’Driscoll of The Allegheny Front writes on January 13, 2023, CARNEGIE INTERNATIONAL PROJECT SEEKS LEGAL PERSONHOOD FOR A TREE The black gum — leafless in winter, and about 10 feet tall — is located on the southern edge of Community College of Allegheny County’s main campus, on a little bluff overlooking…