“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
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
‘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…
Susan Phillips writes January 14, 2023 on StateImpact Pennsylvania, “Pennsylvania sets drinking water standards on two ‘forever chemical’ PFAS compounds” The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection adopted new limits on two of the toxic class of chemicals known as PFAS. Often referred to as “forever chemicals,” because they don’t naturally break down in the environment, PFAS compounds…
Hosted by PHS, Penn IUR, and Analytics at Wharton, Rooted in Research will discuss how green interventions can improve communities Friday, January 20, 2023 – 12:00 PM EST – Online > VIDEO OF WEBINAR < Community gardens, trees, and clean green spaces have long been considered neighborhood amenities. Now, with data from Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s…
Hot oil line ruptures at the Blue Racer in Proctor reducing visibility on Route 2 so much that it caused its closure. January 18, 2023 – Officials say contractors were evacuated, per their normal protocol, at the Blue Racer Midstream in Marshall County, located at 14786 Energy Highway in Proctor. A hot oil line ruptured…
UPDATE: Governor Shapiro made two brief references to the environment during his inaugural address: Full text of his inaugural address: GUEST POST: 60 Years Of Fracking, 20 Years Of Shale Gas: Pennsylvania’s Oil & Gas Infrastructure Is Hiding In Plain Sight By David E. Hess | PA Environment Blog Digest | Jan 17, 2023 “After…
A story in the Los Angeles Times on January 12, 2023, “ExxonMobil publicly denied global warming for years but quietly predicted it” shares details on a new story in SCIENCE… “Emphasize the uncertainty.”public relations manager in an internal draft memo from August 1988 titled “The Greenhouse Effect” Source: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10154309310222708 In perhaps one of the most cynically…
While you were preparing cookies and milk for Santa’s visit, Shell’s Pennsylvania Petrochemical Complex lit-up like a forest fire! Downwind locations directly affected according to that windrose study: Video of major Christmas Eve flaring by Shell cracker plant: More: Marcellus Shale Gas Industry Ruins Christmas Again Shell Cracker Plant: ‘Grinch’ Nets PA DEP Air Pollution…
Ohio River Valley Institute Report Shows Diversified Energy, Owner of Over 22,500 Conventional Oil & Gas Wells in PA, May Be Financially Insolvent By David E. Hess | PA Environment Digest Blog | January 12, 2023 On January 12, the Ohio River Valley Institute issued a new report showing the total financial liabilities of Diversified Energy,…