PA Environment Digest Blog: Wednesday PA Environment & Energy NewsClips 4.6.22

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Senate returns to session April 5, 6

House returns to session April 11, 12, 13

TODAY 9:30: Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee meets to consider Senate Bill 1038 (Stefano-R-Fayette) redirecting civil penalties related to coal mining to O&M Trust Account for treating postmining pollution discharges (sponsor summary); Senate Resolution 229 (Dush-R-Jefferson, Yudichak-I-Luzerne, Flynn-D-Lackawanna) was introduced directing the Joint State Government Commission to study the economic, environmental and health impacts related to the development of a critical and rare earth mineral industry in Pennsylvania (sponsor summary). Room 461. Click Here to watch live. Read more here.

TODAY 10:30: U.S. House Committee On Energy & Commerce Hearing On “Big Oil And America’s Pain At The Pump. Background Memo. Click Here to watch live and for testimony.

-- AP: Commonwealth Court Blocks Publication Of DEP RGGI Regulation [Can Be Appealed]

-- StateImpactPA - Rachel McDevitt: Commonwealth Court Pauses PA’s Effort To Enact RGGI Rule

--PA Capital-Star: State Court Blocks PA Carbon Pricing Scheme For Power Generators

-- U.S. DOE Awards Grant For Pittsburgh Hill District Project To Develop Renewable Energy Plan Focused On Vacant Lots [PaEN]

-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: Homer City Coal-Fired Power Plant In Indiana County Keeps Status Quo, Despite RGGI Vote [The company said before RGGI would force them to close]

-- WCCS: Homer City Coal-Fired Power Plant In Indiana County Announced It Will Continue Coal Operations

-- Guest Essay - Sen. Yaw: Closing Of Bradford County LNG Project A PA, U.S. Tragedy [Actually, The Company Did Nothing With State Approvals Since 2019. DEP’s Air Permit Was Extended Twice. Real Story Here: https://tinyurl.com/c2a3f5e3 ]

-- Inquirer Guest Essay: Hydrogen Hubs Are Not Good For Pennsylvania, Better, Proven Climate Solutions Are Available - Ohio River Valley Institute

-- Citizens Voice: Interest In Electric Vehicles Increase In Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, But They’re In Short Supply

-- TribLive: Murrysville Marks Sites Of Natural Gas Discovery In 1878

-- Reuters: Manure Is A ‘Hot Commodity’ Amid U.S. Fertilizer Shortage [PA Included]

-- Indiana Gazette: Indiana Conservation District Wins $131,000 Watershed Grant

-- Gettysburg: Adams County Watershed Alliance, Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership Hands Out Trees Thru April 9

-- WHYY: Nonprofit Restoring Floodplain, Cobbs Creek Golf Course Could Get $3 Million Boost With Philly Funds

-- Penn State Extension Hosts Water Cooler Talk On Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances April 13 Webinar [PaEN]

-- Chesapeake Bay Foundation-PA Penn’s Waters Newsletter Provides Update On Activities [PaEN]

-- DEP Took Action On 898 Permits, 97% Within Permit Decision Guarantee Deadlines; Conducted 1,427 Inspections; Responded To 3 Environmental Emergencies Last Week

-- PA Resources Council Webinar April 12 Recycling & Waste Reduction. 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

-- Post-Gazette: Possible Ban On Plastic Bags In Pittsburgh Up For Council Discussion

-- Friends Of The Wissahickon Hosts Virtual Valley Talk On PA’s Environmental Justice Policy April 13. 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.

-- PA Wilds Launches Initiative To Attract Remote Workers To Region For A Lifestyle Experience [PaEN]

-- PennLive: Fort Indiantown Gap Crews Practice Wildfire Training With Helicopters, Water Buckets: ‘It’s Pretty Dangerous Stuff’

-- Dionisio Family, ClearWater Conservancy Partner To Permanently Preserve 22 Acre Farm In Centre County [PaEN]

-- Erie Times: Zenchenko Family, Foundation For Sustainable Forests Partner To Permanently Preserve 106 Acres In Erie County Adding It To The Floraroze Forest

-- Game Commission: Rock-Climbing Activities To End On 2 State Game Lands In Fayette County

-- Help Wanted: Berks Nature - Vice President For Education [PaEN]

True Energy Independence Means Renewables

[We’re Not Independent If Foreign Markets, Despots Set The Prices We Pay For Energy]

-- Reuters: Big Oil To Tell Congress Markets, Not Companies, Set Fuel Prices, Testimony

[“The oil companies will say that labor and supply shortages are preventing a quick return of oil output to pre-pandemic levels, and that prices are determined in the international market.”

[“[A survey in March by the]...Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas… [found] half of the big [oil] companies that responded said they didn’t intend to increase output by more than 5% this year despite higher oil prices. Most cited investor pressure as the top reason to limit their growth.]

-- TODAY 10:30: U.S. House Committee On Energy & Commerce Hearing On “Big Oil And America’s Pain At The Pump. Background Memo. Click Here to watch live and for testimony.

-- DEP Budget Hearing: Unconventional Natural Gas Industry Didn’t Drill 40% Of The Wells It Had DEP Permits For [3.1.22]

-- DCNR Budget Hearing: Republican Senators Propose Gas Drilling On At Least 22,000 More Acres Of State Forest, Mining 920 Acres Of Coal Under A State Park To Pay For DCNR Infrastructure Backlog [65% Of Current Shale Gas Leases On State Forest Land Are Undeveloped] [3.4.22]

-- Millions Of Gallons Of Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater Spread Illegally On Dirt Roads, Companies Fail To Comply With DEP Waste Regulations [12.13.21]

-- Senate Budget Hearings: PA’s Experience With New Pipeline Construction Shows State Laws Not Strong Enough To Prevent Environmental Damage, Protect Public Safety [2.2.22]

-- 12 Unconventional Shale Gas Drillers Issued DEP Notices Of Violation For Abandoning Wells Without Plugging Them At 35 Well Pads In 17 Counties [3.2.22]

-- New Abandoned Wells: DEP Records Show Abandoning Oil & Gas Wells Without Plugging Them Is Pervasive In Conventional Drilling Industry; Who Is Protecting Taxpayers? [2.23.22]

-- PA Natural Gas Politicians Want To ‘Unleash’ PA’s Gas Industry - What We Need First Is For Industry To Divert LNG To Europe; Take Up The Slack; Oil & Gas 2.0; True Energy Independence [3.6.22]

-- Majority Chair Of Senate Committee Calls Opponents Of Natural Gas Infrastructure ‘Radical Environmentalists,’ Arguments By Supporters Of RGGI ‘Hysteria’ [3.30.22]

-- Republican Chair Of House Environmental Committee Believes Opponents Of Natural Gas Infrastructure Projects ‘Just Need To Be Ignored And Politically Ran Over’ [3.28.22]

-- Bloomberg: U.S. Gasoline Price Shock’s Roots Go Deeper Than Crude’s Surge

-- Reuters: Germany To Present Renewable Energy Expansion Measures

-- NYTimes: Why Germany Can’t Just Pull The Plug On Russian Energy