February 2023 - News - lists.frackcheckwv.net

A Sustainable Plan for the Budget ‘Surplus’ in West Virginia
by Frack Check WV: Duane Nichols 18 Feb '23

18 Feb '23

# [A Sustainable Plan for the Budget ‘Surplus’ in West Virginia](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/02/18/a-sustainable-plan-for-th… budget-%e2%80%98surplus%e2%80%99-in-west-virginia/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/02/73F61A08-4C39-4AE8-957F-485CA6829C53-300x168.png)](… content/uploads/2023/02/73F61A08-4C39-4AE8-957F-485CA6829C53.png) FrackCheck says that any surplus should go to the counties where the excess originates. **What’s a Sustainable Plan for West Virginia’s Budget “Surplus”?** From the [Weekly Post of the WV Center on Budget & Policy](https://wvpolicy.org/whats-a-sustainable-plan-for-west-virginias- surplus/), February 17, 2023 The 2023 state legislative session has seen both chambers heavily focused on turning the state’s revenue “surplus” into personal income tax cuts, despite the clear need for new spending after four years of austerity forced by flat budgets. We’ve covered at length the temporary factors driving the surplus, as well as the fallacy of calling it a surplus at all when much of that money is obligated to future budget spending based on decisions lawmakers have already made. This piece will take a look at West Virginia’s expected FY 2023 surplus and outline how we could spend it in equitable and sustainable ways while still meeting our budget obligations. Seven months into the fiscal year, West Virginia has a budget surplus of $995.3 million. Half of that, $497.8 million, is severance tax collections above estimates, which have resulted from temporarily high energy prices due to factors outside of West Virginia’s control. To put the historic severance tax collections into context, just seven months into FY 2023, we’ve collected 252 percent of the severance tax we estimated to bring in this year. If current revenue trends continue, we would expect the total FY 2023 surplus to be just over $1.7 billion, which is the amount state officials are projecting as well. Earlier this month, Senate Finance Chairman Eric Tarr identified in an interview that they used the budget hearing process as a workaround to understand each state agency’s upcoming spending needs. What the Senate Finance committee learned is that the state is already on the hook for “at least $917 million” in ongoing, base budget spending obligations based on legislation previously passed, which means that much of the surplus is simply not available to fund tax cuts without changing existing laws or drastically cutting the budget. Chairman Tarr noted that over $900 million is already obligated before lawmakers pass any additional legislation this year that has a price tag. That leaves about $800-850 million remaining of the FY 2023 surplus. If current trends continue, we can expect the severance tax portion of the surplus to be around $800-850 million. We’ve long cautioned that severance tax revenues are incredibly temporary as they are tied to volatile energy prices. A fiscally responsible practice would be to not use any temporary severance tax revenue toward permanent spending — either for the budget or for permanent tax cuts. That said, it’s important for the state to meet its legal spending obligations. With the $800-850 million of severance tax surplus remaining, these funds could be incredibly transformative in the coal and natural gas communities where these tax benefits derive from and which, in many cases, have seen underinvestment in recent years in both infrastructure and economic development. Last year, we called on lawmakers to create an infrastructure and development fund for counties that have coal and natural gas production and to place the FY 2023 severance tax surplus into that fund. With an $800-850 million pot of money, many meaningful projects could be pursued to improve economic opportunities in these communities for this and the next generation. That more than exhausts the FY 2023 surplus. However, some of the costs Chairman Tarr identified as upcoming base-building costs do not become part of the budget until FY 2025 or later. Additionally, the state still has about $500 million in unappropriated surplus funds from FY 2022 that could go to one-time needs, but again, it would be deeply irresponsible to base any ongoing spending or tax cuts on temporary surplus dollars—either those from the severance tax or from the remaining FY 2022 surplus. West Virginia could make some long-needed one-time investments with these dollars — for example, investing in child care subsidies for thousands of families who lost theirs at the end of last year, launching a paid family and medical leave program, and investing in education and workforce training programs. There are also equitable one-time ways to get money back into the pockets of West Virginians. The best option would be a child tax credit applied to all children in the state under the age of 18. For about $350 million, every child in the state could get a one-time $1,000 child rebate. If revenues continue to grow in future years, the legislature could come back and consider making the program permanent. West Virginia’s FY 2023 surplus does present significant opportunities to invest in our people—but most of that investment will need to be in the form of meeting our obligations for public services that serve all of our people. The plan laid out above to meet our spending obligations, invest temporary severance tax revenues back into our coal and natural gas communities, and get more money into the pockets of families with children is both a sustainable and an equitable approach. [Read Kelly Allen’s full blog post here](https://wvpolicy.org/whats-a- sustainable-plan-for-west-virginias-surplus/). <https://wvpolicy.org/whats-a-sustainable-plan-for-west-virginias-surplus/> URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/02/18/a-sustainable-plan-for-the- budget-%e2%80%98surplus%e2%80%99-in-west-virginia/>

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Warning ~ The Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica is Melting (and Retreating)
by Frack Check WV: Duane Nichols 17 Feb '23

17 Feb '23

# [Warning ~ The Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica is Melting (and Retreating)](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/02/17/warning-the-thwaites- glacier-in-antarctica-is-melting-and-retreating/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/02/ACEBEC31-D6D6-402C-A093-79309624F0BC-300x300.jpg)](… content/uploads/2023/02/ACEBEC31-D6D6-402C-A093-79309624F0BC.jpeg) The Thwaites glacier is seen here as part of Antarctica, for now! **Underwater robot helps explain Antarctic glacier’s retreat** From the [Article by James Dean, Cornell Chronicle](https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2023/02/underwater-robot-helps- explain-antarctic-glaciers-retreat), February 15, 2023 **First-of-their-kind observations beneath the floating shelf of a vulnerable Antarctic glacier reveal widespread cracks and crevasses where melting occurs more rapidly, contributing to the Florida-sized glacier’s retreat and potentially to sea-level rise, according to a Cornell research team and international collaborators.** **Deploying the remotely operated Icefin underwater robot through a nearly 2,000-foot-deep borehole drilled in the ice, the team captured the first close-up views of the critical point near the grounding line where Thwaites Glacier in western Antarctica – one of the continent’s fastest changing and most unstable glaciers – meets the Amundsen Sea.** **Icefin is a small robotic oceanographer that allows researchers to study ice and water around and beneath ice shelves – and develop the technology to explore other oceans in our solar system.** From that area, the researchers concluded that Thwaites has retreated smoothly and steadily up the ocean floor since at least 2011. They found that flat sections covering much of the ice shelf’s base were thinning, though not as quickly as computer models had suggested. Meanwhile, the walls of steeply sloped crevasses and staircase-like features were melting outward at much faster rates. The findings, reported Feb. 15 in the journal Nature, provide new insight into melting processes at glaciers exposed to relatively warm ocean water, and promise to improve models predicting Thwaites’ potentially significant contribution to sea-level rise. “These new ways of observing the glacier allow us to understand that it’s not just how much melting is happening, but how and where it is happening that matters in these very warm parts of Antarctica,” said Britney Schmidt, associate professor of astronomy and earth and atmospheric sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) and Cornell Engineering. “We see crevasses, and probably terraces, across warming glaciers like Thwaites. Warm water is getting into the cracks, helping wear down the glacier at its weakest points.” Schmidt, whose team developed Icefin, is the lead author of “Heterogeneous Melting Near the Thwaites Glacier Grounding Line,” and a co-author of “Suppressed Basal Melting in the Eastern Thwaites Glacier Grounding Zone,” whose first author is Peter Davis, an oceanographer at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). Additional co-authors from the Department of Astronomy (A&S) and Schmidt’s Planetary Habitability and Technology Lab include: Research Scientist Peter Washam; Senior Research Engineers Andrew Mullen and Matthew Meister; Research Engineers Frances Bryson ’17 and Daniel Dichek; Program Manager Enrica Quartini; and Justin Lawrence, a former doctoral student and visiting scholar. “Icefin is collecting data as close to the ice as possible in locations no other tool can currently reach,” said Washam, who led analysis of Icefin data used to calculate melt rates. “It’s showing us that this system is very complex and requires a rethinking of how the ocean is melting the ice, especially in a location like Thwaites.” Researchers collected the first close-up observations of the grounding line where the remote Thwaites Glacier, one of Antarctica’s fastest changing and most unstable glaciers, meets the Amundsen Sea. The robotic under-ice observations were collected in early 2020 as part of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC), the largest international field campaign ever undertaken in Antarctica, funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.K.’s Natural Environment Research Council. Complementing Icefin’s observations, partners on ITGC’s MELT project also collected data using radar, ocean moorings and other sensors at multiple sites. **Since the 1990s, the Thwaites grounding line has retreated nearly 9 miles and the amount of ice flowing out of the 75-mile-wide region has nearly doubled, according to ITGC. Because much of the glacier sits below sea level, it is considered susceptible to rapid ice loss that could raise sea levels by more than 1.5 feet. Collapse of the ice sheet behind Thwaites could add substantially more, “with profound consequences for humanity,” according to BAS.** The BAS team, which used hot water to drill the borehole Icefin accessed about 1 mile from the Thwaites grounding line, reported that over a nine-month period, the ocean in that area became warmer and saltier. Surprisingly, the vertical melt rate over much of the ice was less than previously modeled, averaging 6 feet to 18 feet per year. “Our results are unexpected, but the glacier is still in trouble,” Davis said. “If an ice shelf and a glacier is in balance, the ice coming off the continent will match the amount of ice being lost through melting and iceberg calving. What we have found is that despite small amounts of melting there is still rapid glacier retreat, so it seems that it doesn’t take a lot to push the glacier out of balance.” Covering an area larger than Florida or Britain, collapse of the Thwaites Glacier in western Antarctica could contribute significantly to sea-level rise, according to the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. The researchers attributed the varying melt rates in different topography to water stratification and mixing. Along flat sections of ice, a thin layer of melted freshwater acts as a barrier to warmer ocean currents, suppressing upward melting. In contrast, water funneling through sloped crevasses and scalloped terraces transfers heat that promotes faster sideways melting, at estimated rates of up to 140 feet per year. Schmidt and her team of students and staff, including Meister, Dichek and Lawrence, began developing Icefin nearly a decade ago while at the Georgia Institute of Technology, to explore previously uncharted terrain including grounding lines. Designed to descend through narrow boreholes, the pencil- shaped vehicle – measuring less than 10 inches in diameter and more than 12 feet long – is equipped with thrusters, cameras, mapping instruments and sensors for measuring ocean current speeds, temperature, salinity and oxygen levels – information needed to estimate melt rates. **Icefin’s ongoing development – a fourth-generation vehicle is now under construction – has been supported by NASA. In addition to improving climate models, the space agency believes lessons learned in the Antarctic could inform eventual missions searching for life on the icy moons Europa and Enceladus.** The newly published research also includes co-authors from New York University; New York University Abu Dhabi; Georgia Institute of Technology; Oregon State University; University of Portland; Lewis & Clark College; Pennsylvania State University; University of Kansas; University of California, Irvine; California Institute of Technology; University of Gothenburg in Sweden; and the University of St. Andrews and University of East Anglia in the U.K. #######+++++++#######+++++++####### **NOTE:** GLACIERS SOMETIMES ADVANCE BUT MAINLY ARE RETREATING ~ During years when more snow and ice are gained in the accumulation zone than what are lost in the ablation zone the glacier will move forward (advance). During years when more snow and ice are lost in the ablation zone than what are gained in the accumulation zone, the glacier will instead move backwards (retreat). URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/02/17/warning-the-thwaites-glacier-in- antarctica-is-melting-and-retreating/>

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The Sun Shines on Toyota in Putnam County! What About the Rest of West Virginia?
by Frack Check WV: Duane Nichols 16 Feb '23

16 Feb '23

# [The Sun Shines on Toyota in Putnam County! What About the Rest of West Virginia?](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/02/16/the-sun-shines-on-toyota- in-putnam-county-what-about-the-rest-of-west-virginia/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/02/B77C6ACE-5109-43E2-8CBC-8A65FD1305D0-300x180.jpg)](… content/uploads/2023/02/B77C6ACE-5109-43E2-8CBC-8A65FD1305D0.jpeg) Is this for real or a scene from “Star Wars?” **Flower power: Solar arrays resembling flowers provide energy at Toyota Putnam plant** From an [Article by the Staff of WCHS- TV](https://wchstv.com/news/local/flower-power-solar-arrays-resembling- flowers-provide-energy-source-at-toyota-putnam-plant), February 6, 2023 PUTNAM COUNTY, W.Va. (WCHS-TV) — New power sources that resemble flowers have sprouted up around the Toyota Motor Manufacturing West Virginia plant in Buffalo in Putnam County. Five SmartFlower solar arrays were recently installed to help power the facility’s services buildings that house the uniform and footwear stores, credit union, clinic and pharmacy, according to a news release from Toyota. Three EV charging stations also are being powered by the solar arrays, the company said. Company officials said the solar arrays “bloom” at sunrise and follow the sun’s path throughout the day. With the arrays keeping a 90-degree angle to the sun, the power captured is optimized over traditional solar panels, the company said. The flowers fold back up at sunset. “This is just one more way Toyota West Virginia is embracing alternative energy and reducing our ecological footprint here in the Mountain State,” David Rosier, Toyota West Virginia’s president, said in the news release. Toyota said it also has the largest solar array in the state. Located behind the plant, the array can generate 2.6 megawatts – enough to power more than 400 homes. The company said the solar generation reduces the Buffalo plant’s CO2 emissions by an estimated 4 million pounds per year. #######+++++++#######+++++++####### **See Also:** [Smartflower Solar Review: Beautiful Solar That's Not Worth It,](https://www.cnet.com/home/energy-and-utilities/smartflower-solar-revie… beautiful-solar-sculpture/) Andrew Blok, CNET, May 5, 2022 Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. In the solar panel industry, one company has charted a different path. It's producing solar electricity, not with rooftop panels or a traditional ground mounted rack, but with solar powered sunflowers. **Smartflower Solar** offers what it calls "sculptural" solar: an array of panels that unfurls in the morning, tracks the sun across the sky and folds up at night. It looks like a large, mechanical flower. Smartflower turns solar into a statement as well as a conversation piece and does both with a pretty simple installation process. But while some customers may prefer Smartflower's look, it comes at a premium. Beautiful design with a high price tag are why most of the company's customers are organizations, not homeowners. [….. more ……](https://www.cnet.com/home/energy-and-utilities/smartflower- solar-review-beautiful-solar-sculpture/). URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/02/16/the-sun-shines-on-toyota-in- putnam-county-what-about-the-rest-of-west-virginia/>

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OMG! Some Short-Term & Chronic Health Effects of the Climate Crisis
by Frack Check WV: Diana Gooding 15 Feb '23

15 Feb '23

# [OMG! Some Short-Term & Chronic Health Effects of the Climate Crisis](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/02/15/omg-some-short-term-chronic- health-effects-of-the-climate-crisis/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/02/83804959-2969-4186-81C5-5C062B5FC7F5.jpeg)](https:/… content/uploads/2023/02/83804959-2969-4186-81C5-5C062B5FC7F5.jpeg) Coal miners ‘black lung’ and frackers ‘white lung’ are examples of such ailments **How Does Climate Change Affect Our Health?** From an [Article by Eglė Krištopaitytė, Health News](https://healthnews.com/news/how-does-climate-change-affect-our-health…, January 20, 2023 **Climate change impacts all aspects of our lives, including our health. From inflammation caused by wildfire smoke to diseases-carrying vectors migrating to new areas, the threats associated with changing climate are here to stay**. [[It can get worse! See Paul Brown’s challenge.](https://www.amazon.com/NOTES- DEAD-PLANET-Please-Prove-ebook/dp/B09QCZCX9V)] This past year 2022 was the world's 6th-warmest year on record since 1880, according to the latest report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Millions of Americans have experienced the consequences of climate change firsthand, as the country endured 18 separate disasters, including hurricanes and droughts, damages of which exceeded $1 billion. Moreover, these disasters resulted in the deaths of 474 people. In 2021, an international group of medical professionals suggested that rising temperatures due to climate change was the greatest threat to global public health. Scientists expect temperatures to continue increasing this year. In 2024, they could set a new global record. In an interview with Healthnews, Juan Aguilera, MD, PhD, MPH, a director of Translational Environmental and Climate Health at Stanford University, explains how climate change damages our mental and physical health. **Wildfire smoke causes inflammation; wildfires also cause public displacement and property damages.** Aguilera says that climate change impacts different aspects of our lives. For example, rising temperatures prolong drought periods, leading to the drying of the forests' soils. When weeds and bushes are not hydrated enough, the fires tend to expand and cover wider areas. "Smoke contains many different particles that are harmful to human health, with some being small enough to go into the respiratory system and even to penetrate deeply into the circulation," he told Healthnews. Once in blood circulation, particles cause inflammation which, in the long term, could lead to heart diseases, stroke, hardening of the arteries, and even cancer. According to Aguilera, scientists are now learning that wildfire smoke may also affect the immune system, making people weaker against any other types of diseases. The effects of climate change are also linked to mental health problems. For example, living in an area where wildfires may occur can be a source of anxiety. "You never know when a wildfire will occur, how big and wide it is going to be. You may be in danger and need to evacuate your home. Following the news also might be a source making anybody feel anxious," Aguilera, MD, added. Moreover, harmful particles from wildfire smoke may affect neurons and, therefore, mental health. "As we learn more about how these smaller particles affect our entire bodies, we can also explain issues related to mental health," he says. **Extreme climate events are more frequent now.** Climate change also exacerbates extreme weather events, such as hurricanes and thunderstorms, eventually leading to flooding. This causes more humidity within the homes, which can result in mold, Aguilera explains. For some, mold may cause mild symptoms, such as sore throat, coughing, or wheezing. However, those with asthma or people allergic to mold may have severe reactions, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2022, flooding caused by Hurricane Ian led to a spike in potentially deadly infections caused by Vibrio vulnificus, also known as "flesh-eating" bacteria. Over 60 cases of infections and 11 deaths were reported in Florida. "Mosquitos and other vectors are getting adjusted to conditions where the climate is changing. They reach areas where there usually aren't mosquitos, ticks, or any other vectors," Aguilera added. Researcher says that as climate changes, the pollen season is expanding to up to ten months; therefore, pollen allergies will become more frequent. **How to protect yourself from pollution?** Air pollution is one of the drivers of climate change. In 2021, about 67 million tons of pollution were emitted into the atmosphere in the U.S. Unsurprisingly, research reveals more or more harm of pollution to human health. For example, a study from last year found that unborn babies have black carbon particles in vital organs, such as the liver, lungs, and brain, as early as the first trimester. Another study demonstrated that women in their late 40s and early 50s who were exposed long-term to air pollution with nitrogen dioxide and ozone saw increases in their body size and composition measures. So how to protect ourselves from toxic pollutants? Aguilera says that while not everybody will be able to move out of regions that are exposed to air pollution, we can take some lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the steps is to follow the air quality index, which allows tracking of real-time air pollution conditions on a certain day. "Vulnerable groups, such as pregnant, elderly people, children, and people with asthma, may want to consider some personal barriers, such as wearing a mask. Depending on your situation, it might be an N95 mask," he says. In addition, air purifiers may help to trap these particles and reduce the amount of pollution inside the houses. Aguilera explains that in the United States, some low-income communities live closer to freeways and roads, meaning that there are higher levels of air pollution coming from the traffic. "Some homes don't have proper insulation, and because of impending climate change, people who live there may suffer from heat stress or heat stroke. Measures to protect themselves, such as better cooling devices or air purifiers, cost money and are not necessarily accessible to everybody," he adds. Researcher says that the first step in achieving health equity is an awareness that our actions do affect not only ourselves but also people in other countries. "In Africa, they deal with severe droughts and shortages of food because of how climate changes make soils less fertile in some areas," he says. **References & Sources ~ ** 1\. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 2022 was world’s 6th- warmest year on record. 2\. The New England Journal of Medicine. Call for Emergency Action to Limit Global Temperature Increases, Restore Biodiversity, and Protect Health. 3\. The University of Aberdeen. Babies have air pollution in their lungs and brains before they take their first breath. 4\. The University of Michigan. Air pollution tips the scale for obesity in women. 5\. Kaiser Family Foundation. Climate Change and Health Equity: Key Questions and Answers. URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/02/15/omg-some-short-term-chronic- health-effects-of-the-climate-crisis/>

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Take a Look at HYDROGEN ~ It’s Elusive from There to Here
by Frack Check WV: S. Tom Bond 14 Feb '23

14 Feb '23

# [Take a Look at HYDROGEN ~ It’s Elusive from There to Here](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/02/14/take-a-look-at-hydrogen- it%e2%80%99s-elusive-from-there-to-here/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/02/FC65A114-D602-40F6-AAB7-E4C1BAD2D0E5.jpeg)](https:/… content/uploads/2023/02/FC65A114-D602-40F6-AAB7-E4C1BAD2D0E5.jpeg) Hydrogen is expensive and a safety risk regardless of the ‘color’ **A Huge, Uncharted Experiment on the U.S. Economy Is About to Begin** Letter to Editor by [Robinson Meyer, New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/12/opinion/economy-ira-infrastructur… clean-energy.html), February 12, 2023 **If you want to understand the immense windfall the Biden administration is about to bestow on green industries, take a look at HYDROGEN.** Engineers still aren’t exactly sure what role the gas will play in a climate-friendly economy, but they’re pretty sure that it will be useful for something. We might burn it to generate heat in factories, for instance, or use it to make high-tech chemicals. **And thanks to three laws Congress passed over the past two years — the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act and the climate- focused Inflation Reduction Act — the industry will be very well taken care of.** Over the next decade, the government is going to invest **$8 billion on hydrogen “hubs” across the country,** special zones where companies, universities and local governments can build the machinery and expertise that the new industry needs. **Other hydrogen projects will qualify for a $10 billion pot of money in the I.R.A. or $1.5 billion in the infrastructure bill. Still others could draw from a new $6.3 billion program that will help industrial firms develop financially risky demonstration projects.** So that’s up to $25.8 billion before you get to the bazooka: an uncapped tax **credit for hydrogen that could pay out perhaps $100 billion or more over the next decades.** **Few Americans realize it yet, but the trifecta of the Biden-era laws amounts to one of the biggest experiments in how the American government oversees the economy in a generation.** If this experiment is successful, it will change how politicians think about managing the market for years to come. If it fails or misfires, then it will greatly limit the number of tools to fight climate change or a recession. The story of the 21st-century American economy is being shaped now. **I say “experiment,” but, really, there are two. The first concerns the economy.** Mr. Biden’s team believes that it can move the United States toward a more robust, high-capacity and even re-industrialized economy. Can it? And can it use policy moreover to make sure that innovative ideas don’t get lost in the research lab or patent office, but instead make their way to the factory floor and corporate showroom, generating jobs and economic value along the way? **The second experiment:** Can that same economy — which has, virtually since the abolition of slavery, derived a good deal of its industrial energy from extracting carbon from the ground and setting it on fire — find a new primary energy source? Even today, America generates 79 percent of its energy from fossil fuels. The administration is, in a sense, trying to conduct a high- stakes transplant on the heart of the economy while the patient remains alive and voluble on the table. **Don’t get me wrong: Some kind of climate boom is now all but assured**. The investment bank Credit Suisse predicted last year that the I.R.A. would put more than $800 billion into the economy by the end of the decade, galvanizing more than $1.7 trillion in climate-friendly public and private spending overall. The law will transform the United States into the “world’s leading energy provider,” the bank said. The American renewable industry alone could attract 78 percent more investment per year by 2031, according to the energy- research firm Wood Mackenzie. **But I worry that the federal government has started its experiments too haphazardly.** The I.R.A. did not emerge from careful study and bipartisan consensus building, but from intraparty haggling and a harried legislative process. Even the bipartisan CHIPS Act was more of a crisis measure than a strategic intervention. >>> **These shortcomings are forgivable; in the I.R.A.’s case, it’s not like Republicans were ever going to help pass a climate bill. But these constraints have deprived the government of the strong institutions, internal expertise and administrative capacity that have made similar experiments successful in other countries……..** **1\. For practical purposes, that means, first, that the government won’t be able to spend all this money in the right place.** The U.S. financial system persistently struggles to fund projects that take a long time to turn a profit and that can expect to have only modest returns. Unfortunately, the biggest and most important physical infrastructure — factories, transmission lines — often fall under that category. In other countries, industrial policy has entailed creating an agile, entrepreneurial agency that can get money to the right companies in the right ways — as a loan, as equity, as a purchase guarantee. Congress took some steps in that direction last year. The I.R.A. beefed up the Loan Programs Office, the Department of Energy’s in-house bank, and it established a new green lending office within the Environmental Protection Agency. But Congress has put these institutions on a short leash with a limited mandate. This means that the government can’t support as many risky investments as it should. **2\. Second, the government may lack the ability to coordinate its own actions.** Late last year, the Biden administration declined to help reopen a “green” aluminum factory in Ferndale, Wash., that was exactly the kind of low- carbon industry it wants to champion. The local union, electric vehicle makers and the state’s Democratic leadership all wanted to revive the factory. The project even has national-security relevance, since the United States currently imports aluminum from Russia. But Mr. Biden chose not to intercede with the local electricity provider, the Bonneville Power Administration, to supply the plant with enough cheap power to operate even though it is a federal agency ostensibly under the president’s control. Never mind the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing: The right hand couldn’t get the left hand to plug the cord in. **3\. Finally, the government may not understand enough about the companies it’s trying to help.** In Taiwan and South Korea, industrial-policy agencies don’t only hand out money; they constantly gather information from the private sector and use it to adjust goals and policies over time. The I.R.A. contains very few mechanisms for this kind of in-flight course adjustment. Its main incentives are tax credits, which are hard to repeal once they’re in place and hard to fix if they’re not working. They are an unusually mindless way to incentivize companies to change their behavior. **And this points to a related concern: that we have underestimated just how hard decarbonization will be. One of the most cherished and widely held ideas in climate activism is that we could have solved climate change by now if only we’d had the “political will.”** This idea, once true enough, may soon outlive its utility. Mr. Biden and his successors will discover that decarbonization is an inherently difficult and complex societal challenge that cannot be solved with money alone. Some important activities will be legitimately hard to do without emitting carbon pollution; there will be some trade-offs that flummox even the most committed progressives. **Which is to say: Even if the U.S. had an agency that could finance or approve any industrial project in the exact right way at the precise right time, it would still be legitimately unclear which projects it should support.** Will a new lithium mine create jobs and build political support for decarbonization, or will its local pollution effects provoke backlash? If a new hydrogen hub opens in your hometown, will you love the growth or hate the higher housing costs? The Biden experiments bear the mark of a particular set of lawmakers and White House staff members who needed to meet a particular set of goals. They sought to stimulate the pandemic-depleted economy, reduce carbon pollution in a durable way, respond to what they saw as the Chinese manufacturing juggernaut and — perhaps above all — revitalize the American working class to prevent the next Trumpian crisis. They stumbled on a germ of an idea, a climate-friendly “industrial strategy,” and after 18 months of excruciating legislative wrangling, they have somehow made it the law of the land. **But the lawmakers who wrote that policy are not charged with carrying it out, and many of the officials who championed it most — like Brian Deese, the director of the National Economic Council — are now leaving the White House. Will the next crew understand what they’ve inherited?** In order for Mr. Biden’s two experiments to have a chance of success, the officials must not go on autopilot or disarm the parts of the I.R.A. meant to build domestic political support. And they cannot assume that everything about the coming climate boom will work out in the end. More than just the country’s fate depends on it. >>> **Robinson Meyer is a climate change reporter** in Washington, D.C., and a contributing writer at The Atlantic. URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/02/14/take-a-look-at-hydrogen- it%e2%80%99s-elusive-from-there-to-here/>

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Halliburton Loophole Under Study ~ Frack Fluid Safety?
by Frack Check WV: admin 13 Feb '23

13 Feb '23

# [Halliburton Loophole Under Study ~ Frack Fluid Safety?](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/02/13/halliburton-loophole-under- study-frack-fluid-safety/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/02/383C8874-11FE-4A73-B183-0E2F378F9665.jpeg)](https:/… content/uploads/2023/02/383C8874-11FE-4A73-B183-0E2F378F9665.jpeg) Vice President Cheney was the oil & gas industry inside government **Outcomes of the Halliburton Loophole: Chemicals Regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act in US Fracking Disclosures, 2014-2021** From an [Article by Vivian Underhill, et. al., Environmental Pollution](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S026974912…, November 8, 2022 Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) has enabled the United States to lead the world in gas and oil production over the past decade; 17.6 million Americans now live within a mile of a fracked oil or gas well. This major expansion in fossil fuel production is possible in part due to the 2005 Energy Policy Act and its “Halliburton Loophole,” which exempts fracking activity from regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). To begin quantifying the environmental and economic impacts of this loophole, this study undertakes an aggregate analysis of chemicals that would otherwise be regulated by SDWA within FracFocus, an industry-sponsored fracking disclosure database. This paper quantifies the total disclosures and total mass of these chemicals used between 2014-2021, examines trends in their use, and investigates which companies most use and supply them. We find that 28 SDWA-regulated chemicals are reported in FracFocus, and 60-80% of all disclosures (depending on year) report at least one SDWA-regulated chemical. Of these, 19,700 disclosures report using SDWA-regulated chemicals in masses that exceed their reportable quantities as defined under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). Finally, while the most common direct-supplier category is “company name not reported,” Halliburton is the second-most named direct supplier of SWDA regulated chemicals. Halliburton is also the supplier most frequently associated with fracks that use SDWA regulated chemicals. These results show the necessity of a more robust and federally mandated disclosure system and suggest the importance of revisiting exemptions such as the Halliburton Loophole. **See access to the full Publication here:** <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0269749122017663> URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/02/13/halliburton-loophole-under- study-frack-fluid-safety/>

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Let’s Ban Fracking or Regulate It? The Time is Now to Limit Climate Change!
by Frack Check WV: admin 12 Feb '23

12 Feb '23

# [Let’s Ban Fracking or Regulate It? The Time is Now to Limit Climate Change!](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/02/13/let%e2%80%99s-ban-fracking- or-regulate-it-the-time-is-now-to-limit-climate-change/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/02/EB935DA7-7700-4618-B31A-EAEBA2DCDBC8.jpeg)](https:/… content/uploads/2023/02/EB935DA7-7700-4618-B31A-EAEBA2DCDBC8.jpeg) If the US Government will not actually regulate the Oil & Gas Industry, fracking should be banned! **US Department of Energy Releases Report on Economic & National Security Impacts of a Hydraulic Fracturing Ban** From the [Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management](https://www.energy.gov/fecm/office-fossil-energy-and-carbon- management), U.S. DOE, January 14, 2021 Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy delivered a new report to the President on negative impacts of the ill- conceived hydraulic fracturing ban some have proposed. [Economic and National Security Impacts Under a Hydraulic Fracturing Ban](https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2021/01/f82/economic-and- national-security-impacts-under-a-hydraulic-fracturing-ban.pdf) explains why a ban would have far-reaching and severe consequences, including the loss of millions of jobs, price spikes at the gasoline pump and higher electricity costs for all Americans—and the likelihood of increased CO2, SO2, and NOx emissions. A ban would end the U.S. role as the world’s largest oil and natural gas producer and would force the United States to become a net importer of oil and gas once again. It would weaken the Nation’s geopolitical influence and put our national security at risk. “Hydraulic fracturing tapped the great reservoir of America’s natural resources. That technology made the United States the world’s largest oil and natural gas producer, while also creating high-paying jobs and delivering great consumer savings,” said Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy Steven Winberg. “This report to the President details just how devastating the economic and national security impacts of a ban would be. Banning this technology would derail our recovery from recent COVID-related economic disruptions and increase the risk of another recession.” During 2019, U.S. LNG exports helped to reduce the trade deficit and created $9.5 billion in revenue. But it is consumers, in particular, who would bear the impacts of a hydraulic fracturing ban. In recent years, increased domestic oil and natural gas supply has put significant downward pressure on consumer prices for gasoline and natural gas. In 2019, gasoline and diesel prices were 40 percent and 38.3 percent lower, respectively, compared to 2012, and average end-user prices for natural gas fell 24.3 percent in 2019 from 2008 levels. The report shows how consumers would bear the impacts of a hydraulic fracturing ban through higher electricity and natural gas costs. Retail electricity costs would increase by more than $480 billion between 2021 and 2025, and retail natural gas costs would increase by more than $400 billion between 2021 and 2025. And the report estimates how much higher gasoline and diesel costs could go if hydraulic fracturing were banned. Annual average gasoline prices would increase over 100 percent to over $4.20 per gallon in 2022 and 2023, and annual average diesel prices would increase 95 percent to $4.56 per gallon in 2022. Higher prices for gasoline, diesel, and petroleum products would amount to $1.9 trillion in additional, cumulative costs from 2021 to 2025 across all sectors. The shale revolution created by hydraulic fracturing and related technology is also responsible for a well-documented U.S. environmental success record: the reduction of carbon and other emissions to record-low levels. Natural gas is key to that environmental success because it fuels more than one-third of U.S. electric power plants and serves as an important enabler for integrating low- carbon intermittent renewables like wind and solar. “Taking away hydraulic fracturing technology from America’s oil and natural gas industry removes the primary technique needed to efficiently and responsibly extract abundant U.S. energy resources. Without new wells brought online, U.S. natural gas and oil production would rapidly fall, reversing the past decade's energy security gains,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oil and Natural Gas Shawn Bennett. From a national security and foreign policy perspective, significantly curtailing American natural gas and oil production increases global energy dependence on Russia and the member nations of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Currently, the U.S. exports natural gas—mostly in the form of LNG—to 39 countries on five continents. A decrease in LNG and crude oil exports would weaken our geopolitical standing globally and take away an important diplomacy tool. Given the interconnectedness of the global economy, higher energy costs would reverberate across the world, affecting economic growth and the outlook from Asia to Europe. With a weakened American economy, the U.S. would experience a national security setback, becoming reliant, once again, on other nations for its energy needs. The full extent of the economic, environmental and national security impacts of a ban on hydraulic fracturing is detailed in [the report that DOE produced at President’s direction](https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2021/01/f82/economic-and- national-security-impacts-under-a-hydraulic-fracturing-ban.pdf). To learn more about hydraulic fracturing, visit FE’s website. #######+++++++#######+++++++####### **See Also:** [Fracking Threatens America's Air, Water and Climate](https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/fracking/), Center for Biological Diversity ~ Fracking poisons our water, contaminates our air and emits massive greenhouse gas pollution. {+} #######+++++++#######+++++++####### **See Also:** [Fracking Companies Exploiting Halliburton Loophole to Inject Toxic Chemicals,](https://eponline.com/articles/2014/10/23/fracking-companies- exploiting-halliburton-loophole-to-inject-toxic- chemicals.aspx?admgarea=ht.hydraulicfracturing) Environmental Protection Online, October 23, 2014 Despite a federal ban on the use of diesel fuel in hydraulic fracturing without a permit, several oil and gas companies are exploiting a Safe Drinking Water Act loophole pushed through by Halliburton to frack with petroleum-based products containing even more dangerous toxic chemicals than diesel. Investigation finds at least 6 fracking fluids on the market with higher concentrations of benzene (a carcinogen) than diesel fuel, and at least 153 wells fracked with liquids containing ethylbenzene (a probable carcinogen) in 11 states. URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/02/13/let%e2%80%99s-ban-fracking-or- regulate-it-the-time-is-now-to-limit-climate-change/>

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NEWS UPDATE ~ Coal Cost Crossover 3.0 says “Clean Energy is More Economical”
by Frack Check WV: S. Tom Bond 11 Feb '23

11 Feb '23

# [NEWS UPDATE ~ Coal Cost Crossover 3.0 says “Clean Energy is More Economical”](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/02/11/news-update-coal-cost- crossover-3-0-says-%e2%80%9cclean-energy-is-more-economical%e2%80%9d/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/02/FDB08D4F-3EB7-431A-95BF-6D7DF9B188FF-300x115.png)](… content/uploads/2023/02/FDB08D4F-3EB7-431A-95BF-6D7DF9B188FF.png) Data from Clean Technia report of July 2022 **Coal Cost Crossover 3.0: Local renewables plus storage create new economic and reliability opportunities** From the [Coal Cost Crossover 3.0 dated January 28, 2923](https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Coal-Cost- Crossover-3.0-One-Pager.pdf) **NEARLY ALL U.S. COAL PLANTS ARE MORE EXPENSIVE THAN NEW CLEAN ENERGY** _Coal powered the United States economy for decades, but that era is fast coming to a close. The cost of new clean energy technologies has plummeted over the past decade while coal costs have stayed flat or risen, creating a “cost crossover” between coal and renewables in 2020 when renewables provided more power to our grid than coal for the first time._ **Our first Coal Cost Crossover report, based on the 2017 coal fleet, found 62 percent of U.S. coal capacity was more expensive to run than to replace with renewables, while our second, based on the 2019 coal fleet, found 72 percent of capacity more expensive than renewables.** **The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) accelerates this coal cost crossover.** First, the IRA extends and expands the investment and production tax credits, significantly reducing wind and solar costs. Second, IRA funding for loan guarantees to refinance fossil fuel power resources and reinvest in new clean energy infrastructure, creates an economic opportunity to pay down coal debt and attract investment in new renewable resources. Our third Coal Cost Crossover report analyzes 2021 costs for 210 coal plants across the country (totaling 220 gigawatts of coal capacity), comparing them to actual costs for solar and wind in 2021, and incorporating the new tax credits. We find 99 percent of plants (209 out of 210) are more expensive to run than replacing their generation capacity with either new solar or new wind. The savings of using renewables would be significant: The cost of either new wind or solar is at least 30 percent cheaper than the cost of running more than three-quarters of existing U.S. coal plants. **LOCAL RENEWABLES CAN DRIVE $589 BILLION INVESTMENT IN COAL COMMUNITIES** The IRA created a bonus “energy communities” tax credit for building projects in areas that have historically depended economically on the fossil fuel industry. To capture the potential of this tax credit to generate new clean energy investment for these communities, we compared the cost of building new wind and solar resources within 30 miles of each coal plant to the cost of running the existing coal plant. **For 199 of the 210 coal plants, local solar replacement is less expensive than existing coal, and for 104 plants, local wind is less expensive. For 89 plants, both local wind and local solar were cheaper than coal, indicating a clean energy portfolio including local wind and solar is a viable replacement option for those plants, while providing additional grid reliability value.** Between solar and wind, our study finds replacing 204 coal plants with new local clean energy would generate up to $589 billion in new investment in energy communities across the country. Local replacement of coal plants with renewables offers several advantages, including preserving tax revenue and creating jobs in energy communities, qualifying projects for IRA-authorized funding and loans, and potentially avoiding the need to build new transmission to connect to the grid by using existing coal plant infrastructure. **PAIRING LOCAL RENEWABLES WITH STORAGE PROVIDES ADDED RELIABILIY** We also evaluated the cost of adding four-hour battery storage with local solar to provide additional reliability value and in some cases, higher market profitability. We find that the potential savings from switching from coal to local solar can finance 137 GW of four-hour battery capacity across the coal fleet, or more than 60 percent of the capacity of all 210 coal plants we studied. While reliability does not necessarily depend on adding storage, adding some amount of storage can help integrate renewables and accelerate clean energy adoption. For more than a third of the coal plants we studied, we find that in addition to replacing the electricity generation with local solar, 80 percent or more of the plant’s capacity can be replaced with four-hour batteries at a combined cost that is still lower than the cost of operating the coal plant. For the remaining coal plants, the percentage of capacity that can be economically replaced is still quite significant: Savings from renewable generation could fund battery storage at more than 50 percent plant capacity at 135 plants. **POLICIES TO SPEED THE COAL TO CLEAN TRANSITION** The economics are clear: Solar and wind offers much cheaper power compared to coal and without compromising the reliability of our electricity system. However, policymakers must act to unlock the cost savings, redevelopment, and human health benefits for coal communities. Several policies can hasten the coal-to-clean transition: • **Regulators should:** o Encourage utilities to utilize IRA financing programs from the Departments of Energy and Agriculture. o Enable competitive resource procurement. o Require reassessment of any utility investment plan, including integrated resource plans and market- based solicitation for renewable supply, completed prior to IRA as renewables costs will be out of date. • **State legislatures and energy offices should** plan and fund a coal community economic transition, where local clean energy resources anchor a more expansive economic transition plan. • **Regulators and system operators should:** o Improve methods to assess reliability and resource adequacy that reflect the reliability value of renewable portfolios and value the reliability attributes of a high-renewable grid. o Update interconnection study rules to leverage existing coal plant interconnection rights to speed grid connection processes for local renewable replacement resources. #######+++++++#######+++++++####### **See Also:** [Most Renewables Now Cheaper Than Cheapest Coal](https://cleantechnica.com/2022/07/21/most-renewables-cheaper-than- cheapest-coal-in-g20/) - CleanTechnica, July 21, 2022 <https://cleantechnica.com/2022/07/21/most-renewables-cheaper-than-cheapest- coal-in-g20/> URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/02/11/news-update-coal-cost- crossover-3-0-says-%e2%80%9cclean-energy-is-more-economical%e2%80%9d/>

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PUBLIC NOTICE ~ U.S. ARMY CORPS ~ 15 Day Extension of MVP Comment Period
by Frack Check WV: admin 10 Feb '23

10 Feb '23

# [PUBLIC NOTICE ~ U.S. ARMY CORPS ~ 15 Day Extension of MVP Comment Period](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/02/10/public-notice-u-s-army- corps-15-day-extension-of-mvp-comment-period/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/02/E6262D77-9F21-4E69-B122-565A76256C00.jpeg)](https:/… content/uploads/2023/02/E6262D77-9F21-4E69-B122-565A76256C00.jpeg) Huntington Branch of US-ACE has responsibility for stream protection **RE: Public Notice No. LRH-2015-00592-GBR, LRP-2015-798, NAO-2015-0898 ~ Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP)** **From** [U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Issuance Date: February 10, 2023 to Closing Date: February 25, 2023](https://www.lrh.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/Public- Notices/Article/3243440/lrh-2015-00592-gbr-lrp-2015-798-nao-2015-0898/) **STREAMS** : Elk, Gauley, Greenbrier, Roanoke, Blackwater Rivers (Section 10 waters) and other streams **NOTICE OF COMMENT PERIOD EXTENSION:** The United States Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) published on December 12, 2022 for public comment a supplemental Public Notice to Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC’s proposal to discharge dredged and/or fill material into waters of the United States and work in and under navigable waters of the United States associated with the construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline and can be accessed on our website at: [https://www.lrh.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/Public- Notices/Article/3243440/lrh-2015-00592- gbr- lrp-2015-798-nao-2015-0898/](https://www.lrh.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regula… Notices/Article/3243440/lrh-2015-00592-gbr-lrp-2015-798-nao-2015-0898/) This Public Notice solicits comments related to supplemental information provided by the applicant. The public comment period on this proposal was extended until February 10, 2023 via public notice of December 20, 2022. The public comment period on this proposal is being extended an additional 15 days until February 25, 2023 to allow additional time for review of additional documents being provided for the benefit of public awareness and to inform any further comments on the proposed project. **DESCRIPTION OF THE SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION:** In addition to the supplemental information described in our December 12, 2022 Public Notice (see link above), revised and additional documents are being provided to the public as follows (month of receipt and/or last update of document in parentheses; documents marked with an asterisk (*) contain updated information from that previously provided via public notice, or impact information being presented in a new organizational format): • Summary of Impracticability of Using a Trenchless Crossing for the Blackwater River (original October 2021/updated November 2021); • Riffle and Pool Complexes Avoidance and Minimization Summary (received January 2022); • Mountain Valley Pipeline’s Responses to Additional Comments Provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (July 27, 2022) for the Clean Water Act Section 404 Individual Permit (received August 2022); • Hydrogeomorphic Functional Assessment Summary (received October 2022); • *Streams with Multiple Separate Crossings (received October 2022); • *Bent Mountain Resources Table (received October 2022); • *Table 15. Crossing Method Determination Summary (original February 2021/updated February 2023); • Updated Environmental Justice Screening Tool Results (original November 2021/updated February 2023); and • *Tables A-1 and A-3 West Virginia Stream Impacts and Summary (original February 2021/updated February 2023). [1] Corps staff have reviewed the applicant’s webpage to confirm the above listed documents are accessible. In the event the applicant’s webpage is not accessible, the public may contact Mr. Adam Fannin at (304) 399-5610 to schedule an appointment to view the information. The application, previously provided supplemental information described in our December 12, 2022 Public Notice, and the above described information may be accessed on the applicant’s webpage at: <https://www.mountainvalleypipeline.info/news-info/> Select “IP Applications Supplemental Information February 2023” from the menu on the right-hand side of the page[1]. **PUBLIC INTEREST REVIEW AND COMMENT:** This application will be reviewed in accordance with 33 CFR Parts 320-332, the Regulatory Program of the Corps, and other pertinent laws, regulations, and executive orders. The decision whether to issue a permit will be based on an evaluation of the probable impacts, including cumulative impacts, of the proposed activity on the public interest. That decision will reflect the national concern for both the protection and the utilization of important resources. The benefit that reasonably may be expected to accrue from the proposal must be balanced against its reasonably foreseeable detriments. All factors that may be relevant to the proposal will be considered, including the cumulative effects thereof; among those factors are conservation, economics, aesthetics, general environmental concerns, wetlands, historic properties, fish and wildlife values, flood hazards, floodplain values, land use, navigation, shoreline erosion and accretion, recreation, water supply and conservation, water quality, energy needs, safety, food and fiber production, mineral needs, considerations of property ownership and, in general, the needs and welfare of the people. **SOLICITATION OF COMMENTS:** The Corps is soliciting comments from the public, federal, state and local agencies and officials, Indian Tribes and other interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the supplemental information provided by the applicant. Reference the text of the March 29, 2021 Public Notice and December 12, 2022 Supplemental Public Notice for additional details. The Corps will only consider comments pursuant to the scope of the supplemental information. **CLOSE OF COMMENT PERIOD:** The Huntington District has been designated as the lead Corps district, thus all comments pertaining to this Public Notice must reach their office on or before the close of the comment period listed on page one (1) of this Public Notice. If no further comments are received by that date, it will be considered that there are no additional objections related to the supplemental information. Comments should be submitted electronically to Mr. Adam Fannin by email at CELRP-MVP(a)usace.army.mil. If you do not have internet access, comments may be submitted through the United States Postal Service (USPS) to the following address: United States Army Corps of Engineers, Huntington District ATTN: CELRH-RD-E, Public Notice: LRH-2015-00592-GBR, LRP-2015-798, NAO-2015-0898, 502 Eighth Street, Huntington, West Virginia 25701-2070. Copies should only be provided through the USPS when electronic transmission is not possible. Precautionary internal mail handling procedures may be instituted to protect our workforce, which may result in longer than normal times to process and receive hard copy submissions. To be considered in our evaluation, comments submitted through the USPS should have a postmark dated on, or prior to, the close of the comment period listed on page one (1) of this Public Notice. Please note names and addresses of those who submit comments in response to this Public Notice become part of our administrative record and, as such, may be available to the public under provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. Thank you for your interest in our nation’s water resources. If you have any questions concerning this Public Notice, please contact Adam Fannin of the Energy Resource Branch at (304) 399-5610, by mail at the above address, or by email at: CELRP-MVP(a)usace.army.mil. #######+++++++#######+++++++####### **Please address all comments and inquiries to: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntington District ~ ATTN: CELRH-RD-E Public Notice No. (referenced above) 502 Eighth Street, Huntington, West Virginia 25701-2070 ~ Phone: (304) 399-5610** URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/02/10/public-notice-u-s-army- corps-15-day-extension-of-mvp-comment-period/>

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Crypo Mining Noise Jars Mountain Community in North Carolina
by Frack Check WV: admin 10 Feb '23

10 Feb '23

# [Crypo Mining Noise Jars Mountain Community in North Carolina](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/02/10/crypo-mining-noise-jars- mountain-community-in-north-carolina/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/02/4CA9000D-73E7-43FE-815F-79E4DDFC0AF3-300x168.jpg)](… content/uploads/2023/02/4CA9000D-73E7-43FE-815F-79E4DDFC0AF3.jpeg) Crypto mining computer banks generating high noise level 24/7 **How the blare of a crypto mine woke up this Blue Ridge Mountain town** From [News Report of Bill Weir, Cable News Network (CNN)](https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/19/us/north-carolina-crypto-mine-noise- weir-wxc/index.html), January 19, 2023 **Murphy, North Carolina (CNN) ~** When Judy Stines first heard about cryptocurrency, “I always thought it was smoke and mirrors,” she said. “But if that’s what you want to invest in, you do you.” **But then she heard the sound of crypto, a noise that neighbor Mike Lugiewicz describes as “a small jet that never leaves” and her ambivalence turned into activism.** The racket was coming from stacks and stacks of computer servers and cooling fans, mysteriously set up in a few acres of open farm field down on Harshaw Road. **Once they fired up and the noise started bouncing around their Blue Ridge Mountain homes, sound meters in the Lugiewicz yard showed readings from 55-85 decibels depending on the weather, but more disturbing than the volume is the fact that the noise never stopped.** Mike Lugiewicz describes the noise generated by the nearby crypto mine as "a small jet that never leaves. “There’s a racetrack three miles out right here,” Lugiewicz said, pointing away from the crypto mine next door. “You can hear the cars running. It’s cool!” “But at least they stop,” Stines chimed in, “And you can go to bed!” **The word “mine” evokes pickaxes and coal dust in this region, so at first, the neighbors around Murphy, North Carolina, had no idea that mining a so- called “proof of work” crypto coin is more like playing a computer game with billion-sided dice. Instead of shovels, modern miners need enormous amounts of server power to roll the winning number faster than their competitors around the world.** **This unrelenting demand for electricity was one reason China banned cryptocurrency, touching off a virtual gold rush from Appalachia to New York’s Finger Lakes.** Crypto miners began putting down stakes in places where power is cheap and affordable, and if land use or noise regulations even exist, enforcement is weak. **The mine in Murphy is just one of a dozen in Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina owned by a San Francisco-based company called PrimeBlock, which recently announced $300 million in equity financing and plans to scale up and go public.** But a year and a half after crypto came to this ruby red pocket of Republican retirees and Libertarian life-timers, anger over the mine helped flip the balance of local power and forced the Board of Commissioners to officially ask their state and federal officials to “introduce and champion legislation through the US Congress that would ban and/or regulate crypto mining operations in the United States of America.” “I personally think that if we can get a bill into the system, other (North Carolina) counties will join,” newly elected Chairman Cal Stiles said after the motion was read. When it passed 5-0, the crowd cheered. “Oh boy, they wanted us so bad a year ago,” PrimeBlock co-owner Chandler Song replied via LinkedIn DM when asked about the move to outlaw his crypto mine. “It is unconstitutional, to say the least.” **In 2019, Song and his co-founder Ryan Fang made the Forbes “Big Money” 30 under 30 list which features young entrepreneurs with over $10 million in funding. According to the profile, they founded their first blockchain company, ANKR Network, in 2017 when they were in their early 20s.** ANKR was eventually folded into the umbrella company PrimeBlock and in the final quarter of 2021, they claimed “$24.4 million of revenue, and over 110 megawatts of installed data center capacity.” This came as Song and Fang teamed up with former Goldman Sachs investment banker Gaurav Budhrani to create a company with an “estimated enterprise value of $1.25 billion” with the hopes of selling public stock on the Nasdaq. A few weeks after that announcement, residents packed the Cherokee County Board meeting where representatives from the company were scheduled to appear, but soon learned that management had changed their minds after a power outage at another crypto site nearby. “When (the outage) was investigated, it was found out that the power outage occurred because someone shot, with a gun, one of the (service lines),” County Commission Chair Dan Eichenbaum told the room to groans. “As a result of that, the crypto mining people decided they weren’t going to come.” “They could have joined over video!” one resident said to the board in frustration after the clerk read the company’s statement explaining they canceled “for employee safety.” Months later, Song told The Washington Post that he had received no noise complaints from Cherokee County and said he would build noise insulation walls and install quieter water-based cooling systems. But after erecting walls on only two sides of the mine, construction stopped and the dashed hopes of the community only poured more fuel on local anger as they headed to the polls. **“I’m old. I’m a senior citizen. Social media is not really in my bailiwick,” Stines said as she explained how noise pollution transformed her into an activist. “I like to be behind the scenes and I like to stir the pot. But I knew that we needed to win an election.”** Chandler Song went silent when presented with follow-up questions on LinkedIn, but the mine on Hershaw Road roars on as the Cherokee County attorney searches for ways to put legal teeth into a newly passed law against continuous noise without rankling liberty-loving landowners. **“The Tennessee Valley Authority does not pursue cryptocurrency mines and it is not one of our target markets,” Scott Fiedler, a spokesman for the TVA told CNN. But he acknowledged that the federally owned utility that serves millions in seven states does not keep track of the mines using TVA power, and it’s up to local utilities like the Murphy Electric Power Board to decide who gets service and who gets cut in a blackout.** **That last contingency brought even more bad blood and lost trust during the brutal winter storm that gripped much of the South and forced some of the first rolling blackouts in TVA history. While residents were plunged into cold darkness, they say the power-hungry mine kept humming.** “They shut us down on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day every hour for anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes to an hour,” resident Ron Wright told CNN. “Well, once your power goes down, your heat pumps go off and pipes freeze. But less than one mile away is crypto, allowed to run on the low end. As soon as the power came back, boom! They’re cranking before we are. **Back on Harshaw Road, Mike Lugiewicz pointed to the For Sale sign in front of his house. “September of 2021, I think, is when they turned this on and my wife and I just shook our heads, said, ‘No, we’re out of here.’” He hopes to stay in the area and keep fighting alongside neighbors like Judy Stines until the quiet comes back.** _“I don’t really care what folks invest in,” Stines said with a sigh. “I do care about this noise that affects us every day, all day, all night. It’s never-ending.”_ #######+++++++#######+++++++####### **See Video for Crypto mining noise ~** [This is the sound in front of Mike Lugiewicz’s garage. Source: CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/19/us/north- carolina-crypto-mine-noise-weir-wxc/index.html) URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/02/10/crypo-mining-noise-jars- mountain-community-in-north-carolina/>

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