On December 27, 2020, seemingly at the last minute, President Trump signed the omnibus spending bill negotiated in Congress. Much of the news has been about the pandemic relief provided in the law. But the law also funds many new energy and environmental initiatives. The Act’s environmental features are mostly found in a component called […]
The Mountain Valley Pipeline, which seeks to transmit fracked natural gas from Northern West Virginia to markets in Virginia and North Carolina, has been on hold since 2018. At that time the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals vacated authorizations issued by the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service for the pipeline to […]
The American Wind Energy Association, the leading wind energy trade association, has issued a proposed 100-day plan for the Biden Administration to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. The plan advances four themes: establishing clean energy targets, expanding interstate transmission capacity, expediting federal permitting processes for renewable energy and removing cost barriers for renewables. The […]
Workers digging to install a new pipeline next to an older one on private property near Martinsburg struct the older line causing an explosion on September 21. Pressurized gas shot 80 to 100 feet in the air causing the evacuation of the homeowners. There was no fire. Rockwool opponents Jefferson County Foundation say this is […]
A bald eagle in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula attacked a shoreline mapping drone on July 21, ripping off its propeller and sending it down in 4 feet of water. In its last 3.5 seconds of operation, the drone sent out 27 frantic distress messages. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, owner of the […]
On August 11, 2020 the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality rejected a water permit for a 75-mile branch of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Overall, the MVP is a 300-mile project designed to transmit gas from nothwestern West Virginia to Virginia. NCDEQ explained that the North Carolina branch depended on completion of the MVP mainline […]
The West Virginia oil and gas industry and the surface owners’ rights lobby want to shift the cost of plugging abandoned oil and gas wells to a federally funded program. Several bills introduced in the Legislature last session would have made oil and gas drillers themselves pay a fee for this purpose upon applying to […]
BP, one of the world’s largest oil companies, announced August 4, 2020 that it would cut its oil and gas production 40% and increase its renewable electric power output twenty-fold within the next ten years. It also expects to direct a third of its capital spending — $5 billion to $7 billion — toward low-carbon […]
Elliot Simon has been appointed by the Jefferson County Republican Party to challenge incumbent John Doyle for Delegate in the 67th District, including Harpers Ferry and Shepherdstown. The original Republican candidate, Mark Everhart, withdrew after disclosure of prior legal troubles. Simon ran against Doyle for the same set in 2010 but narrowly lost. In 2012, […]
West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner announced on July 27, 2020 that absentee ballots will be available to those who apply and list as a reason “illness, injury or other medical reason which keeps me confined.” Because the state continues under Governor Justice’s stay at home order, we are all “confined” and eligible for […]
