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Our Planet Under Examination, But Few Want to See or Understand
by Frack Check WV: Duane Nichols 06 Apr '23

06 Apr '23

# [Our Planet Under Examination, But Few Want to See or Understand](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/05/our-planet-under- examination-but-few-want-to-see-or-understand/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/04/E4061BF5-20B6-4EA0-A2B1-E01A16669438.jpeg)](https:/… content/uploads/2023/04/E4061BF5-20B6-4EA0-A2B1-E01A16669438.jpeg) Fungal diseases are under the influence of climate change … **‘The Last of Us’ Is Right. Our Warming Planet Is a Petri Dish** . . From an [Article by Neil Vora, New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/02/opinion/the-last-of-us-fungus- climate-change.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Opinion), April 2, 2023 . . **“The Last of Us,” a postapocalyptic television thriller, recently concluded its first season with a stunning finale. However, as a physician and horror superfan, I found the show’s beginning more striking: A 1960s talk-show host asks two epidemiologists what keeps them up at night. “Fungus,” one replies.** He’s worried about a real-world species of Ophiocordyceps known to hijack the body and behavior of ants. Fast forward to the show’s central, fictional drama: a pandemic caused by a type of that fungus, which mutated as the world grew warmer. The new version infects humans and turns them into ravenous, zombielike beings whose bodies are overtaken by mushrooms. **Fungal epidemics in humans are infrequent, in part because human-to-human transmission of fungi is rare, and I am not aware of any involving zombielike creatures. It’s far more likely that the next pandemic will come from a virus. But the idea that climate change is making the emergence of new health threats more likely is solid. Could it cause a fungus ubiquitous in the environment to morph into a lethal pathogen in humans? It’s possible.** Scientists like me worry that climate change and ecosystem destruction may be creating opportunities for fungal pathogens to grow more infectious, spread over larger distances and reach more people. For example, Candida auris, a drug-resistant yeast that can be deadly in hospitalized patients, may have gained the ability to infect people thanks to warmer temperatures, according to some scientists. On March 20, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Candida auris has spread at “an alarming rate” in health care facilities and is “concerning.” But international efforts to strengthen global health security rarely consider fungal pathogens. Given that the risks are growing, that leaves us unprepared and failing to take adequate steps for their prevention. No fungal vaccines exist, diagnosis is complicated and costly, and there are not enough drugs to combat the fungus. Unless governments fund research to better address fungal disease and reverse the environmental factors that fuel their emergence, we will remain vulnerable. **For many plants and animals, fungi are a scourge. Fusarium wilt, which devastates banana plants and for which there are limited treatments, is spreading globally and is a major threat to the multibillion-dollar banana industry. An infection known as white-nose syndrome has killed millions of bats across North America. Ninety amphibian species have gone extinct from chytridiomycosis, a dreadful disease that causes a frog’s skin to fall off.** Humans have largely been exempt from fungal outbreaks because of our warm blood — 98 degrees Fahrenheit, too hot for many fungi to survive. That could be changing. A January study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that heat kicked a fungus called Cryptococcus deneoformans — which can infect humans — into evolutionary overdrive, increasing certain genetic mutations fivefold. This means more opportunities to develop dangerous adaptations, such as heat tolerance and drug resistance. In another lab study, a research team grew and heated a type of fungus known to kill insects. Within four months, two strains could reproduce at 98 degrees Fahrenheit, up from a previous limit of about 90 degrees. **Some microbiologists believe climate change is already accelerating fungal evolution in nature.** Their theory is that global warming may have selected for strains of Candida auris in the environment that could survive at higher temperatures. This allowed the yeast to break a thermal barrier that previously limited spread, such that it gained the ability to infect warm- blooded birds — and humans exposed to those birds. A changing climate may also increase the transmission of fungal disease. These microorganisms are everywhere: kitchen counters, backyard soil and the air we breathe. Typically, systemic fungal infections occur in immunocompromised individuals — cancer patients, organ recipients and others — who have inhaled spores from their environment. But regional outbreaks among healthy people are of increasing concern since flooding, cyclonic winds and wildfire smoke can create conditions for fungi to flourish and spread. Counterintuitively, so can drought. In the American Southwest, long periods without rain have dried out the earth, leading to dust storms. Reported cases of Valley fever, a once-rare respiratory illness caused by soil-borne fungal spores, have soared nearly tenfold since 1998; the fungus has also spread to new regions, including Washington State. A warming planet is creating more vulnerability in humans, too. Reduced crop yields, for example, lead to malnutrition, while heat stress causes kidney disease. At the same time, deforestation, inadequate safety measures on farms and commercial wildlife trade increase the risk of so-called spillovers, where viruses like Ebola jump from animals to people. Fungi, nature’s savviest opportunists, will use these disturbances to their advantage. We saw this in the 1980s as fungal infections surged alongside H.I.V., a virus that emerged from spillover. We also saw it more recently when a unique fungal disease affected thousands of people in India who had received immune-suppressing steroids as part of their treatment for Covid-19. **Last October, the World Health Organization created a list of “fungal priority pathogens” for the first time. “Fungal pathogens are a major threat to public health,” the group wrote.** This was an important symbolic gesture, but it does not give doctors what they need: better tools to fight these infections. There are no approved vaccines. Globally, many countries lack the capacity to diagnose certain common fungal diseases. Even in New York City, where I treat patients, it can take weeks for some to receive a diagnosis for fungal infections. Worse yet, many fungal pathogens already are resistant to the few antifungal drugs we do have available. In part, this is a technical challenge: It’s difficult to develop antifungals that don’t also destroy our cells. But we cannot develop cures if we don’t try — and right now, fungal research output is abysmal. For example, cryptococcal meningitis, a fungal infection, kills more people than bacterial meningitis caused by Neisseria meningitidis, yet the latter receives over three times as much research funding. Fungal pathogens simply haven’t been on government funders’ radar — they receive just 1.5 percent of all research funding for infectious disease research. Likewise, pharmaceutical companies have little incentive to invest in research and development, because the potential profit is limited. To help fill this void, the National Institutes of Health must increase support for the study of fungal diseases, as it recently did for Valley fever. The U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, which helps develop vaccines and drugs for public health emergencies through public- private partnership, must also make them a priority. Currently, none of the 83 initiatives listed on the B.A.R.D.A. medical countermeasures portfolio website are for fungal pathogens, though it has announced its support for the development of novel antifungals. **This moment also calls for humility. In the 1960s, some prominent experts erroneously believed infectious diseases were a diminishing threat. But nature is full of surprises.** From 2012 to 2021, I investigated outbreaks with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As my colleagues and I responded to Ebola, rabies, poxviruses and coronaviruses, we saw firsthand how the ways people interact with the environment and animals can surface disease in horrific and unexpected ways. Often, we don’t learn how devastating these diseases are until we are in the midst of a full-blown emergency. With only 5 percent of an estimated 1.5 million fungal species identified to date, fungi are perhaps the great blind spot in public health. Our health depends on a delicate ecological equilibrium. Maintaining that balance — by weaning ourselves off of fossil fuels to slow climate change and halting the loss of nature to prevent viral spillovers — is perhaps our best hope for avoiding a fungal horror show. **>>> Dr. Neil Vora is the pandemic prevention fellow at Conservation International and led New York City’s Covid-19 contact tracing program from 2020 to 2021.** URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/05/our-planet-under-examination- but-few-want-to-see-or-understand/>

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Mountain Valley Frack Gas Pipeline ~ Unnecessary Risk for Residents, Farms, Streams & Mountains
by Frack Check WV: Duane Nichols 04 Apr '23

04 Apr '23

# [Mountain Valley Frack Gas Pipeline ~ Unnecessary Risk for Residents, Farms, Streams & Mountains](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/04/mountain-valley- frack-gas-pipeline-unnecessary-risk-for-residents-farms-streams-mountains/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/04/ED8FCDB3-53A1-4ACE-9D62-F02C6821C305.jpeg)](https:/… content/uploads/2023/04/ED8FCDB3-53A1-4ACE-9D62-F02C6821C305.jpeg) MVP 42 inch coated pipeline actually too large for rough terrain and varied conditions **M.V.P. Plans ~ Pipeline’s pros can’t outweigh its cons** From the Letter to Editor of [Betsy Lawson](https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/2022-11/M…, Sunday Edition, Morgantown Dominion Post, April 2, 2023 . . **A guest essay in Sunday’s Dominion Post (3-26-23) extolling the benefits of finishing the Mountain Valley Pipeline is so glaringly misleading that a response is required.** The remaining unbuilt section would cross the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Appalachian Trail — one of the most pristine areas in Appalachia. People who live there have seen whole sections of already built pipeline slide down the steep hillsides, an unstable terrain where a pipeline eruption and possible explosion seem inevitable. The construction of pipelines to carry natural gas at high pressures of 1,200 psi, some to ports on the coast where it will be sold overseas, risks the safety of many residents for the profit of a few elsewhere. This pipeline will not benefit the common good. Landowners will lose some of their land through eminent domain and see a decrease in their property values, while profits go to the corporate shareholders. Fewer tourists, hunters and fishermen will visit an area that looks industrialized. Soil erosion from these massive scars on the land will destroy trout streams and water quality. Tax revenue will decrease in this area and ratepayers may be stuck paying off this boondoggle as renewable energy makes fossil fuels less economic. **Further, fracking for natural gas mostly benefits the few people who sell it. The pollution and noise from fracking lower the quality of life for everyone who lives in proximity. We are experiencing 24/7 noise now from construction of a new fracking pad in our neighborhood. When the drilling starts, it will be far worse.** West Virginia has been under the thumb of the fossil fuel industry for much too long, making us one of the least healthy and least prosperous states in the country. We must vote for leaders who look to the future and promote the economic prosperity of clean energy. >>> [Betsy Lawson, Morgantown Area of Monongalia County, WV](https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/2022-11/MSS_2… URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/04/mountain-valley-frack-gas- pipeline-unnecessary-risk-for-residents-farms-streams-mountains/>

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US Court of Appeals Rejects M.V.P. Water Quality Permit From WV-DEP
by Frack Check WV: Duane Nichols 03 Apr '23

03 Apr '23

# [US Court of Appeals Rejects M.V.P. Water Quality Permit From WV- DEP](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/03/us-court-of-appeals-rejects-m-… p-water-quality-permit-from-wv-dep/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/04/21B425A9-D4DD-4673-A510-A3D2D904FFC2.jpeg)](https:/… content/uploads/2023/04/21B425A9-D4DD-4673-A510-A3D2D904FFC2.jpeg) US Court of Appeals Issues Unanimous Decision to Protect Streams **Court vacates critical West Virginia water permit for Mountain Valley Pipeline** [Press Release from Jessica Sims, Appalachian Voices](https://appvoices.org/2023/04/03/mvp-wv-401/), April 3, 2023 RICHMOND, Va. — Today, a unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit vacated the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s Clean Water Act § 401 certification for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, finding that the agency’s justification behind its conclusion that the pipeline would not violate the state’s water quality standards was deficient. The 401 certification is a critical permit that MVP needs in order to resume construction through rivers and wetlands in West Virginia, including 193 remaining water crossings in the state. This decision comes days after the same court upheld a § 401 water quality certification granted in Virginia. Mountain Valley Pipeline has devastated water resources in West Virginia, receiving citations for scores of violations of water quality standards and racking up at least $550,000 in fines for failing to timely and adequately control runoff along the construction route. The court identified multiple failures by West Virginia in issuing the certificate. Specifically, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection did not sufficiently address the history of MVP’s water quality violations, did not include a condition requiring MVP to comply with the construction stormwater protection permit, and did not adequately explain why they waived review of location-specific antidegradation policy. Without a § 401 water quality certification from West Virginia, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers cannot issue the related Clean Water Act § 404 water quality permit that MVP needs for its stream and wetland crossings. In addition, MVP still has not received authorization to cross the Jefferson National Forest. Now that the developers behind the MVP will have to reapply for a 401 water quality certification in West Virginia, the timetable for the project is even more uncertain. In this case, Appalachian Mountain Advocates represented Sierra Club, West Virginia Rivers Coalition, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, Indian Creek Watershed Association, Appalachian Voices and Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “Today’s ruling uplifts the tireless efforts of every single coalition member and volunteer fighting to protect land, water and people,” said Russell Chisholm, managing director for the Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights Coalition. “Mountain Valley Pipeline’s assurances don’t match the facts as documented in violation after violation. MVP should abandon their ill-fated project because we will defend every stream and river crossing that can still be saved from permanent harm.” “West Virginia communities have endured Mountain Valley Pipeline’s damage to their water resources and environment for far too long,” said Jessica Sims, Virginia field coordinator for Appalachian Voices. “The WVDEP’s insufficient safeguards have been exposed, and this ruinous project must be canceled.” “West Virginia has been ground zero for the MVP and this ruling today makes clear that communities from West Virginia to North Carolina have worked together to protect the water,” said Dr. Crystal Cavalier-Keck, co-founder of 7 Directions of Service. “People need investment in clean, fossil-fuel free, non-extractive energy — not the MVP — and developers should cancel the project.” URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/03/us-court-of-appeals-rejects-m-v- p-water-quality-permit-from-wv-dep/>

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Green Hydrogen Can Find Diverse Applications, Some More Logical
by Frack Check WV: Duane Nichols 02 Apr '23

02 Apr '23

# [Green Hydrogen Can Find Diverse Applications, Some More Logical](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/02/green-hydrogen-can-find- diverse-applications-some-more-logical/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/04/92FEBD7D-56A4-4B27-B381-0775F99876C9.jpeg)](https:/… content/uploads/2023/04/92FEBD7D-56A4-4B27-B381-0775F99876C9.jpeg) An electrolyser stack in the research and development area of the Plug Power facility in Concord, Massachusetts **Green hydrogen is having a breakthrough moment, can we make the most of it?** From an [Article by Oleksiy Tatarenko & Natalie Janzow, Energy Monitor](https://www.energymonitor.ai/tech/hydrogen/opinion-green-hydrogen-is- having-a-breakthrough-moment-how-do-we-make-the-most-of-it/), March 31, 2023 . . **Developers and policymakers should set their sights on projects catering to sectors most acutely in need of green hydrogen, like steelmaking, fertilizers and shipping.** Landmark federal legislation is now mobilising billions of dollars to energise a fledgling industry around green hydrogen, a carbon-free fuel and chemical feedstock that is produced with renewable energy. The good news is that green hydrogen is a versatile tool that can decarbonise industries ranging from marine shipping to steelmaking to fertilizer production. The caveat? The generous federal subsidies that are critical to rapidly scaling green hydrogen don’t yet dictate what the hydrogen is used for, which could result in projects that are financially viable for companies but aren’t in the best interest of the climate or consumers. State and federal agencies have the power to ensure that public funding for green hydrogen doesn’t go towards building an energy bridge to nowhere. Instead, public agencies and regulators can guide green hydrogen towards the sectors where its use is both financially viable and where better alternatives aren’t already available. Staffers at the **US Department of Energy** (DOE), for example, can allocate funding from the **Loan Programs Office and the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations** towards projects that decarbonise heavy industry and energy-intensive transport. State policymakers can develop road maps with a clear vision for where hydrogen will be used, then implement funding programmes and deployment targets to incentivise hydrogen fuel- switching in priority sectors. **Building a green hydrogen economy for today and tomorrow** Under last year’s **Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)** , producers of green hydrogen can claim tax credits for the hydrogen they make, as well as for any new clean electricity that they generate to make that hydrogen. In some scenarios, the generous subsidies can make even inefficient uses of green hydrogen profitable. One prominent example is using power to produce hydrogen, then burning that hydrogen in a power plant to produce power again – wasting most of the energy along the way. While hydrogen may eventually play a role in decarbonising electricity, it will be as a store of energy for backup power to manage the variability of renewables, not as a primary source of baseload power. Importantly, the federal subsidies are time-limited, so use cases that are marginally profitable today may be woefully uncompetitive down the line. Misguided investments in hydrogen uses like baseload power generation or home heating could leave utility customers on the hook for inefficient and expensive infrastructure that has only a short window of financial viability. Even with optimistic assumptions, for example, using hydrogen to heat homes will require at least three-times as much electricity as using a heat pump, and will be more expensive for consumers in the long run. **Getting our priorities straight with clean energy** **Fortunately, there are several priority industries that promise to be far better long-term customers for clean hydrogen producers. Sectors such as steelmaking and fertiliser production provide a more stable and lucrative market for green hydrogen, which offers a carbon-free alternative to coal, diesel and other polluting fossil fuels. Not only can green hydrogen fetch higher prices in those sectors, but it would also make a much bigger dent in global carbon emissions.** **For example, analysis from the non-profit RMI finds that every kilogram (kg) of green hydrogen that displaces traditional fuels in the coal-heavy steel sector would prevent 33.6kg of CO2 from being emitted — more than five times the carbon savings of using hydrogen to generate power or heat buildings, where better decarbonisation technologies already exist.** Producing fertiliser from hydrogen instead of fossil gas would also provide substantial climate benefits, while boosting food security and insulating farmers from the volatility of fossil fuel prices. Similarly, deploying hydrogen-derived fuels such as ammonia and e-methanol in shipping and e-kerosene in aviation would enable widespread emissions reductions without limiting the scalability of these vital transport sectors. **Fuelling the US 's clean Industrial Revolution** The US now has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to turbocharge the hydrogen economy – and ensure it is headed in the right direction. As part of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the federal government is allocating $8bn to develop regional hydrogen hubs across the nation. These hubs will comprise clusters of interconnected hydrogen producers, consumers and transport infrastructure. **Regional coalitions looking to develop clean hydrogen hubs will submit their final applications to the DOE in April.** The state agencies and private- sector players in these coalitions are eager to get in on the ground floor of this nascent industry, and their cost-sharing contributions will bring tens of billions of dollars to these regions. The hubs that are selected – and the industries within those hubs – will help determine whether green hydrogen reaches its economic and climate potential. Forthcoming guidance from the Treasury Department and the IRS that clarifies how the new IRA tax credits are implemented will also help shape the early hydrogen economy, given that these tax credits will spur potentially hundreds of billions of dollars in investment. The boom in funding from IRA incentives, hydrogen hub investments and other initiatives gives the US a real opportunity to establish vibrant regional hydrogen hubs and clusters of clean industry. Alliances such as the **Mission Possible Partnership** , which helps align heavy industries and their customers behind decarbonisation solutions, can help grow these seeds into a nationwide hydrogen economy that transforms and modernises some of our highest-emitting industries. US policymakers have successfully summoned an unprecedented surge of interest and activity in carbon-free hydrogen. If they can channel it to the right sectors, they can help revitalise and decarbonise the nation’s industrial base at the same time. URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/02/green-hydrogen-can-find-diverse- applications-some-more-logical/>

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U. S. Government Promotes Large-Scale HYDROGEN HUBS for Regional Energy Supply?
by Frack Check WV: Duane Nichols 01 Apr '23

01 Apr '23

# [U. S. Government Promotes Large-Scale HYDROGEN HUBS for Regional Energy Supply?](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/01/u-s-government-promotes- large-scale-hydrogen-hubs-for-regional-energy-supply/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/03/2384ECD4-E266-4A38-A73D-A915C4459212-300x168.jpg)](… content/uploads/2023/03/2384ECD4-E266-4A38-A73D-A915C4459212.jpeg) Hydrogen Hub intended to generate green hydrogen as an alternative fuel **The Outlook for U.S. Hydrogen Hubs: What Can They Achieve?** From an [Article by Anna Mende & Emily Kent, Clean Air Task Force](https://www.catf.us/2023/03/outlook-us-hydrogen-hubs/), March 29, 2023 As efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address the impacts of climate change ramp up around the world, public and private sources of capital have turned their attention to hydrogen—an energy carrier that does not produce carbon emissions when utilized in fuel cells or combusted. This zero- carbon fuel has garnered attention for its potential to play a key role in achieving full, global, economy-wide decarbonization. In 2022 alone, private equity and venture firms spent over $5 billion on hydrogen-related companies on the tailwinds of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Beyond authorizing $1.2 trillion of investment in infrastructure upgrades to help the United States transition to a zero- carbon economy, the legislation allocated $8 billion for the Department of Energy (DOE) to fund four Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs—or H2Hubs—across the U.S., and DOE has indicated that it may use the funding to support the development of as many as ten H2Hubs. The hubs will be localized centers for the production, transportation, storage, and end-use of hydrogen. This first- of-a-kind demonstration program intends to catalyze domestic clean hydrogen production in the United States and can serve as a platform and framework for operationalizing the technological and commercial advances developed through DOE’s Hydrogen Shot program, which aims to bring the cost of production down by 80% to $1 per kilogram in one decade. Given the massive investment by the federal government and the promising benefits hydrogen hubs can provide, it is important that these hubs are developed thoughtfully and designed in a way that maximizes climate and community benefits. The IIJA directs the DOE to fund hubs that: 1\. Demonstrably aid the achievement of the clean hydrogen production standard; 2\. Demonstrate the production, processing, delivery, storage, and end-use of clean hydrogen; and 3\. Can be developed into a national clean hydrogen network to facilitate the production and use of low-emissions hydrogen in sectors of the economy that will be difficult or impossible to electrify. DOE will evaluate applicants on a variety of factors, including: Production methods and feedstock diversity: The IIJA requires at least one H2Hub to demonstrate production of clean hydrogen from fossil fuels, one from renewable energy, and one from nuclear energy. End-use diversity: At least one H2Hub will demonstrate the end-use of hydrogen in the electric power generation sector, one in the industrial sector, one in the residential and commercial heating sector, and one in the transportation sector. Cost share: The hubs program requires a minimum of 50% non-federal cost share. Cost share must come from non-federal sources such as private project participants, state or local governments, or other third-party financing. Community benefits: In alignment with the federal Justice40 Initiative, DOE will require hub applicants to include community benefits plans (CBPs) as part of their full applications to DOE. These plans are crucial aspects of the application and will be weighted at 20% of the technical and merit review of the proposals. DOE will give priority to regional hydrogen hubs that are likely to create opportunities for skills training and long-term employment to the greatest number of residents in the region. In the lead up to the full application deadline on April 7th, CATF has mapped and identified leading stakeholders and regions that have responded to the DOE funding notice and intend to submit a full application. You can further explore state and regional application efforts in our new map here. **What benefits do we expect hydrogen hubs to create?** The establishment of a hydrogen hubs program is historic. It signals significant governmental commitment to scaling the innovative technologies and industries we need to ensure deep decarbonization in the decades to come. We expect the program to deliver the following impacts: Decarbonization of hard-to-electrify end-use sectors: The hydrogen hubs program has the potential to catalyze the decarbonization of industries such as marine shipping, heavy-duty trucking, aviation, steel making, and industrial process heating – sectors that were responsible for nearly 16% of U.S. emissions in 2018. These sectors would greatly benefit from the availability of low-carbon hydrogen. We expect some of these industries to be firmly planted within a hub—for example, industrial facilities that use hydrogen instead of natural gas to fuel their high temperature processes. Other end-users like marine shipping, heavy-duty trucking, and aviation will flow between hubs – stopping in regions across the U.S. to refuel with low- carbon hydrogen or hydrogen derivatives. Connective infrastructure and export potential: For in-hub users like industrial facilities, hydrogen will often be supplied directly from the producer to the end-user by short pipelines. For other end-use sectors—particularly transportation—the distribution of hydrogen will be much more dispersed. CATF expects the hydrogen hubs program to foster the creation of hydrogen and ammonia-fueled transportation corridors that stretch between the hubs. This will create stronger economics for individual hubs, accelerate their development, and foster the build-out of a global hydrogen network, potentially positioning the U.S. to become a hydrogen exporter via our ports. Lowering costs and driving investment: Coupled with the hydrogen production credit from the Inflation Reduction Act (Section 45V), which gives hydrogen projects that begin construction before 2033 a tax credit of up to $3.00 per kilogram of clean hydrogen produced based on its carbon intensity, the hydrogen hubs program should help lower the cost of hydrogen production and creates significant incentive for project developers. The required 50% non- federal cost share will also attract private and state pools of capital to enter the hydrogen market. Job creation and community benefits: There is significant potential for the hubs program to drive localized clean technology job creation and workforce development opportunities. Additionally, when clean hydrogen is utilized in the transportation sector, it has the potential to improve local air quality, especially around ports and heavy-duty-trucking corridors. Additionally, the requirement that 40% of benefits from federal funding flow to historically disadvantaged communities means that the hubs chosen will need to have robust community benefits plans. Stay tuned to learn more from CATF on what comes next for the hydrogen hubs program, exploring some of what we have seen from hub applicants and the timelines and expectations from DOE over the coming year. >>> Anna Menke (amenke(a)catf.us), Senior Hydrogen Hubs Manager, and Emily Kent (ekent(a)catf.us), U.S. Director for Zero-Carbon Fuels, are important members of our CLEAN AIR TASK FORCE team. URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/01/u-s-government-promotes-large- scale-hydrogen-hubs-for-regional-energy-supply/>

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Federal & State Legal Proceedings for Mountain Valley Pipeline Continue Month After Month
by Frack Check WV: Duane Nichols 31 Mar '23

31 Mar '23

# [Federal & State Legal Proceedings for Mountain Valley Pipeline Continue Month After Month](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/31/federal-state- legal-proceedings-for-mountain-valley-pipeline-continue-month-after-month/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/03/DD0FD160-DC8D-4F9C-957A-4CEA023C0F5C-223x300.png)](… content/uploads/2023/03/DD0FD160-DC8D-4F9C-957A-4CEA023C0F5C.png) Mountain Valley Pipeline Traverses Incredibly Rough Terrain Crossing Rivers & Streams **Court Upholds Virginia’s MVP Water Permit, But Ruling Forthcoming on West Virginia Approval** From an [Article by Jeremiah Shelor, Natural Gas Intelligence](https://www.naturalgasintel.com/court-upholds-virginias-mvp- water-permit-but-ruling-forthcoming-on-west-virginia-approval/), March 30, 2023 . . **The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has upheld a crucial water quality permit issued to the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) by Virginia state regulators, keeping the project on track to potentially resume and complete construction later this year. However, a forthcoming ruling on a water quality permit issued by the state of West Virginia could bring fresh setbacks for the embattled 300-mile, 2 million Dth/d Appalachian natural gas export pipeline, according to analysts.** In a ruling published Wednesday, the Fourth Circuit denied a petition to review the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s decision to approve MVP under state water quality standards. In rebuffing the petition, filed by a coalition of opposition groups, the Fourth Circuit concluded, in part, that Virginia regulators had “considered a variety of factors in determining that the construction and operation of the pipeline would comply” with state water quality standards. Still, the state-level water quality permit issued to MVP by neighboring West Virginia may also have to withstand judicial scrutiny in order to keep the project on track. **The Fourth Circuit heard oral argument in a case challenging the West Virginia water quality permit back in October “but has yet to issue a ruling,” analysts at ClearView Energy Partners LLC said in a note to clients. “We explained then that we thought it is likely that the court would return the permit to West Virginia for additional work, but that the real question is whether the court remands it without vacating it, too.”** Whether or not the court vacates the West Virginia permit could prove critical for the timeline of the pending Army Corps of Engineers Clean Water Act Section 404 permit, which requires the state water-quality approvals to be in place, the ClearView analysts said. Information posted to MVP’s federal permitting dashboard indicates the Army Corps plans to issue the Section 404 permit by late April. “If a court believes that the agency can resolve the shortcomings in a permit and would likely arrive at the same decision (in this case approval), the court can remand the permit” but preserve its legal validity, the ClearView analysts said. “Most of MVP’s schedule delays have arisen from judicial challenges that resulted in permits being vacated.” MVP is a joint venture of EQM Midstream Partners LP; NextEra Capital Holdings Inc.; Con Edison Transmission Inc.; WGL Midstream; and RGC Midstream LLC. Project backers have said work on the pipeline is roughly 94% complete and that they plan to bring the pipeline into service in the second half of 2023. URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/31/federal-state-legal-proceedings- for-mountain-valley-pipeline-continue-month-after-month/>

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Drilling & Fracking Threatens Our Allegheny Plateau and Its Biodiversity
by Frack Check WV: Duane Nichols 30 Mar '23

30 Mar '23

# [Drilling & Fracking Threatens Our Allegheny Plateau and Its Biodiversity](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/29/drilling-fracking- threatens-our-allegheny-plateau-and-its-biodiversity/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/03/2EF1F57C-EBEE-46C0-A13A-00B9CB0B2759.jpeg)](https:/… content/uploads/2023/03/2EF1F57C-EBEE-46C0-A13A-00B9CB0B2759.jpeg) Fracking waste disposal in Guernsey County, OH. (These activities are known risks of creating earthquakes.) **Protect This Place: Fracking Threatens the Allegheny Plateau in PA, N.W. WV & S.E. OH** [Environmental Essay by Lisa C. Lieb, Revelator Voices](https://therevelator.org/fracking-allegheny-biodiversity/), March 27, 2023 **Let’s Protect This Place: A region historically plagued by industrial pollution is overwhelmed with unconventional oil and gas development. The Allegheny Plateau is a lower-lying portion of the Appalachian Mountain Range that extends from southern and central New York to northern and western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, northern and western West Virginia, and eastern Kentucky.** **Why it matters:** The plateau consists of areas of gently sloping hills in the north and west of the region as well as rugged valleys in the south and east. It overlies the Marcellus Shale and Utica Shale, sedimentary rock formations. The region is rich in natural resources, including hardwoods, iron ore, silica, coal, oil and natural gas. The abundance of these resources supported development in the region and were integral to the local steel, glass, rail and extraction industries. Prior to widespread logging between 1890 and 1920, the area hosted old-growth forests containing red spruce, eastern white pine, eastern hemlock, sugar maple, black oak, white oak, yellow birch and American beech. But the forest’s makeup is now different, favoring oaks, maples, hickories, American beech and yellow birch. Though fragmented and much less mature than the old-growth forests, today’s forests continue to play a vital role in ecosystems, serving as habitats for the federally endangered Indiana bat as well as locally endangered or at-risk species such as little brown bats, northern flying squirrels and blackpoll warblers. The region hosts the Ohio River watershed and confluence, the Allegheny National Forest in New York and Pennsylvania, and the Wayne National Forest in Ohio. **The threat:** Unconventional oil and gas development has boomed in the region over the past decade. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that the Marcellus and Utica shale plays contain approximately 214 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas, making the Allegheny Plateau a lucrative location for hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.” Already more than 13,000 unconventional wells have been drilled in Pennsylvania. Fracking itself is a resource intense process, requiring between 2 and 20 million gallons of water per well. A 2014 study estimated that in Pennsylvania, 80% of the water used for fracking comes from streams, rivers, and lakes, thus potentially altering water temperature and levels of dissolved oxygen. This water is combined with sand and a mixture of hazardous chemicals, which may include methanol, ethylene glycol and propargyl alcohol. Between 20-25% of the water that is injected into the well returns to the surface. This flowback water often has higher salinity and has been known to contain barium, arsenic, benzene and radium. While recycling of flowback is becoming more common, other methods of disposal include underground injection, application to road surfaces, treatment at public waste facilities, and discharging it onto rivers, streams and lakes. Near fracking sites in West Virginia, elevated levels of barium and strontium were found in feathers of Louisiana waterthrushes, native songbirds who make their home in brooks and wooded swamps. In northwestern Pennsylvania, crayfish and brook trout living in fracked streams were found to have increased levels of mercury. Fish diversity is also reduced in streams that have been fracked. Fracking consumes land, too. Each fracking well requires 3-7 acres. In Pennsylvania over 700,000 acres of state forest land are leased or available for gas production. Well pads, pipelines and other fracking infrastructure fragment forests, alter their ecology, and reduce biodiversity. Appalachian azure butterflies and federally threatened northern wild monkshood — purple- flowering herbaceous perennials found in New York and Ohio — are both sensitive to forest fragmentation. In addition to the direct impacts of fracking, the availability of natural gas in the Marcellus and Utica shale plays attracts petrochemical development to the region. Shell Polymers Monaca initiated operations in November 2022 at a newly constructed 386-acre petrochemical complex in southwestern Pennsylvania, along the Ohio River. The plant manufactures virgin polyethylene pellets, which will be largely be used for production of single-use plastic products. In addition to releasing hazardous air pollutants, volatile organic compounds and particulate matter, this ethane “cracker” plant will emit 2.2 million tons of carbon dioxide per year. The plant’s existence will also fuel fracking in the region; it is anticipated that it will require between 100 and 200 new wells each year in order to supply natural gas for its productions. Other petrochemical companies, including Exxon, PTT Global and Odebrecht, have reportedly been considering building similar complexes in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. **My place in this place:** I was born and raised in the area, and my family’s roots in southwestern Pennsylvania go back several generations. Some of my most cherished memories involve Pennsylvania’s forests, rivers and streams. As a child I loved my family’s summer pilgrimages to our cabin, a rustic building that had been converted from a one-room schoolhouse in the Pennsylvania Wilds. At “camp” we fished for yellow perch, smallmouth bass and walleye in the Sinnemahoning Creek and caught crayfish by hand. We sunned ourselves on the rocks along the river bank when the water was warm. In the evenings we walked on quiet, narrow roads in hopes of spotting an eastern elk in a grassy field. I now live in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, one mile from the Shell cracker plant. I can observe the plant’s flaring from my kitchen window, which often creates an ominous orange glow in the night sky. To me the plant doesn’t symbolize job creation or a rebounding local economy, despite the assertions of local and state politicians. I see the plant as the perpetuation of a hopeless dependence on fossil fuels and corporate profit at the expense of ecological integrity. I worry that fracking and an associated petrochemical buildout will destroy already fragile ecosystems throughout my home in the Allegheny Plateau. **Who’s protecting it now:** There are a variety of environmental groups located in the region. No Petro PA is an organization that resists fracking and pipeline development in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. More locally the Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community in western Pennsylvania opposes fracking and seeks to protect local community members from its harmful effects. With the rise of the Shell cracker plant, the group also formed Eyes on Shell, a community organization that aims to hold Shell accountable for its activity and advocates for the surrounding communities’ health and safety. These are just three of the many grassroots organizations working to protect the air, soil, water, wildlife and communities in the region. The national organization, FracTracker, also provides extensive data on oil and natural gas wells, pipelines, legislation and environmental health. **What this place needs:** Ideally Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia will follow in the footsteps of New York and institute a ban on fracking in light of the environmental and health risks associated with unconventional gas and oil development. However, given their strong ties to the fossil fuel industry, it is unlikely that this will occur. Banning fracking on public land in the region, such as in state forests and county parks, in a practical first step in combatting forest fragmentation and pollution. At a regional level, regulations should be put in place to protect the water quality of the Ohio River. The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission, a multistate organization working with the federal government, could ban fracking in the Ohio River Basin in order to protect the river and its watershed. The Delaware River Basin Commission has successfully prohibited fracking within the Delaware River Basin; the rules developed by the commission could be adapted for use by the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission. Additional government oversight would help to protect water quality in the region. Presently fracking is exempt from the Safe Water Drinking Act and therefore isn’t regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Ending this exemption could increase water quality and safety within the Allegheny Plateau. Increased transparency from oil and gas companies is also required to protect the region’s water. As of July 2022, California is the only state in the country that requires full public disclosure of all chemicals used in fracking. Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio must implement policies that require full public disclosure of chemicals used in all phases of the fracking process. URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/29/drilling-fracking-threatens-our- allegheny-plateau-and-its-biodiversity/>

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WV Public Service Commission Should Serve the Public Interest
by Frack Check WV: admin 28 Mar '23

28 Mar '23

# [WV Public Service Commission Should Serve the Public Interest](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/28/wv-public-service- commission-should-serve-the-public-interest/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/03/8CED8432-1407-45ED-A88C-16018318915F.jpeg)](https:/… content/uploads/2023/03/8CED8432-1407-45ED-A88C-16018318915F.jpeg) “Climate, Jobs & Justice” are the Three Pillars of the WV Climate Alliance **The choice and the burden of energy in West Virginia** From the [Letter to Editor of Perry Bryant, Charleston Gazette](https://www.wvgazettemail.com/opinion/op_ed_commentaries/perry- bryant-the-choice-and-the-burden-of-energy-in-wv- opinion/article_e748f9d9-9db3-5c93-aeef-41be6cb16cf9.html), March 28, 2023 **Last year, Charlotte Lane, chairwoman of the West Virginia Public Service Commission, wrote an op-ed claiming that burning coal is cheaper than installing renewables, such as wind and solar. That really depends on what costs are included, and Lane failed to include the harm that burning coal causes — costs that renewables don’t incur. Plus, a lot has happened since she wrote her op-ed.** Lane’s basic argument is that solar and wind are intermittent sources of energy while coal is available all the time. The myth of coal’s super reliability was pierced recently when Standard & Poor’s reported that one of three coal-fired units at Harrison Power plant and two of three coal-fired units at John Amos were shut down during part or all of the frigid polar vortex in West Virginia last December — just when we needed their energy the most. Lane also dismissed battery storage as too expensive for storing solar and wind energy when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing. However, battery storage technology is rapidly evolving. Form Energy, for example, recently announced that it is opening a battery manufacturing facility in Weirton to make batteries that can store, and then discharge, power for 100 hours at a cost of one-tenth of lithium-ion batteries, the type of batteries utilities currently use. If Form Energy can deliver on its claims, it will make renewables very reliable at a very reasonable price. I do agree with Lane that we should consider the cost of battery storage when comparing the cost of renewables versus the cost of coal. But we also should consider the cost of the harm that occurs from burning coal. **These costs are substantial. The West Virginia University College of Law’s Center on Energy and Sustainable Development found that almost 100 deaths can be avoided in West Virginia in 2035 by adopting renewable sources of energy, instead of relying on burning coal for our electricity.** What’s the cost of these avoidable deaths? And what are the additional costs associated with global warming caused primarily by burning coal and other fossil fuels — including increased severity of flooding, longer lasting and more extreme heat waves, more intense hurricanes, etc.? **The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that the social cost of carbon — that is the total amount of damages from emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere — is $190 per ton of carbon dioxide.** The five coal-fired power plants under the jurisdiction of the PSC emitted 38 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2021 according to the Energy Information Administration, and caused $7.2 billion in damage using the social cost of carbon. The John Amos plant in Putnam County alone emitted 11 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2021 causing $2.1 billion in damages. **The social cost and resulting damages from emissions from solar and wind? Zero. ~ It’s a lot easier to claim that coal is cheaper than wind, solar and battery storage when you don’t include $7 billion in annual damages that coal- fired power plants cause with their emissions.** To be fair to Lane, neither the emergence of Form Energy’s breakthrough on new battery development nor the EPA’s proposed social cost of carbon was available when she wrote her op-ed last year. **West Virginia is at a crossroads.** We can double down on burning coal, with all its adverse effects, or we can transition to clean energy. For the next 10 years, the federal government will provide tax incentives to partially offset the cost of utility companies installing solar, wind, geothermal and other carbon-free sources of energy. This window of opportunity shuts in 2032. After that, West Virginia utility customers will be stuck with the entire bill for developing new sources of electricity. To avoid huge cost increases to consumers, we need leadership from Lane and West Virginia’s utilities. The choice is theirs. But the cost savings from adopting clean energy or the true cost of burning coal will be ours. >>> [Perry Bryant lives in Charleston. He is a co-founder and leader of the West Virginia Climate Alliance.](https://www.wvclimatealliance.org/) #######+++++++#######+++++++####### **SEE ALSO:** [PSC orders audit of Mon Power, Potomac Edison lobbying expenses](https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/energy_and_environment/psc- orders-audit-of-mon-power-potomac-edison-lobbying- expenses/article_e30e9673-5fa1-5b65-94b8-5752c2fa9c3d.html), Mike Tony, Charleston Gazette, March 28, 2023 URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/28/wv-public-service-commission- should-serve-the-public-interest/>

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Pennsylvania Now Has Crypto Mining Problems Including Sustained Noise & GHG Emissions
by Frack Check WV: Duane Nichols 27 Mar '23

27 Mar '23

# [Pennsylvania Now Has Crypto Mining Problems Including Sustained Noise & GHG Emissions](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/27/pennsylvania-now-has- crypto-mining-problems-including-sustained-noise-ghg-emissions/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/03/7F294E9A-638F-466C-81E3-FBF86FCC6A85.jpeg)](https:/… content/uploads/2023/03/7F294E9A-638F-466C-81E3-FBF86FCC6A85.jpeg) Consuming excess natural gas to run banks of computers, noise from cooling fans and GHG emissions **Crypto Mining at Gas Wells Sparks Regulatory Headaches, Outcry in Northwestern Pennsylvania** From an [Article by Audrey Carleton, Capital & Main News](https://capitalandmain.com/crypto-mining-at-gas-wells-sparks-regulato… headaches-outcry-in-northwestern-pennsylvania), March 22, 2023 . . **Before obtaining the required permits, Diversified Energy began installing cryptocurrency mining infrastructure on one of its thousands of well pads.** **Longhorn Pad C** is located about half a mile south of a small cemetery and a little over a mile north of a Methodist church in **Elk County, in northwestern Pennsylvania**. With a population of around 30,000, this county sits squarely in the center of the path the Marcellus Shale formation takes as it curves through the commonwealth. The lonely well pad houses four natural gas wells that records show were initially drilled in 2011 but sat inactive for years after that. Now, it also houses infrastructure designed to mine cryptocurrency, which, according to a comment filed by the surrounding township’s Board of Supervisors, hums loudly enough to have solicited numerous noise complaints from residents. Though it has applied for them, the company behind this operation has yet to receive the permits it is required by law to construct or operate the engines to power a cryptocurrency mine. **“After a recent inspection, the [Department of Environmental Protection] PA- DEP has determined that Diversified was in violation,” said Tom Decker, community relations coordinator at the PA-DEP’s Northwest Regional Office, “as it had installed equipment for its cryptocurrency operations prior to the issuance of a plan approval issued by the Department. “The company is required by law to obtain a plan approval from PA-DEP prior to installation and operation of the air contamination sources,” Decker said. “Installation of the equipment without a plan approval could lead to enforcement action by the PA-DEP.”** The pad is owned by a fossil fuel operator that’s come under fire in recent years for purchasing tens of thousands of low-producing oil and gas wells without a clear business motive and for making unrealistic budget projections that minimize the true cost of plugging, critics say. In doing so, it has amassed the largest portfolio of old, low-producing wells in Appalachia. That operator is **Diversified Energy Company PLC** , the parent company to Diversified Production LLC, which recently applied for a permit with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA-DEP) to add five natural gas-powered engines and one generator to the well pad with the intention of mining cryptocurrency. What the operator’s permit application does not disclose is that Diversified would go on to prematurely install cryptocurrency infrastructure on the pad, and while the PA-DEP reported that it was not operational on the day of a March 1 site visit, the department confirmed that the operator had installed one engine and two trailers holding cryptocurrency mining computers in violation of environmental law. According to the township that houses the site, it’s already showing signs of running. **“We are aware that Diversified Production has installed small engines on the gas well sites to generate cryptocurrency,” Jay Township’s Board of Supervisors wrote in a comment to the PA-DEP in January. “We have received many complaints on the noise disturbance of these engines.”** The engines will power what’s called wellhead mining, in which a cryptocurrency data center is powered directly by an oil or gas well. This pad appears to be the first of its kind in Pennsylvania to go through a formal permitting process for the practice, which is gaining prominence throughout the Keystone State, home to hundreds of thousands of abandoned wells and rich methane stores. It is not clear when Diversified installed cryptocurrency equipment on the pad without a permit. A PA-DEP inspection report from June 2022 notes that “the operator is installing equipment to resume cryptocurrency mining operations using the production from four producing Marcellus shale wells on the pad.” Another one filed in August 2022 includes photos of large trailers that, according to the PA-DEP, currently house cryptocurrency equipment. A PA-DEP representative told Capital & Main that the department did not learn that the equipment was installed until mid-February. **“Given Diversified’s history, this is not a surprise,” said Charles McPhedran, a senior attorney with Earthjustice and co-author of a comment opposing Diversified’s cryptocurrency permit application to the DEP. “The question is whether PA-DEP can make a forceful response to rogue crypto operators.** ” This new use for old wells, which has in recent years proliferated in other major oil and gas states including Texas, could extend fossil fuel production in Pennsylvania — and threaten to stall progress toward its climate goals, including an aim to reduce the commonwealth’s greenhouse gas emissions by 26% below 2005 levels by 2025. The emissions intensity of Bitcoin, which is “mined” via data centers that can plug into the electrical grid or directly into energy sources, as Diversified proposes, is larger than that of some countries. As states grapple with the need to transition from fossil fuels, environmentalists fear that attaching new cryptocurrency operations to untapped or otherwise dying energy sources will only extend their life. Longhorn Pad C appears to be a perfect example, per Capital & Main’s review of public records relating to the pad. A handful of environmental groups in Pennsylvania first took note of Diversified’s proposal in December, when the PA-DEP announced in the state bulletin its intention to approve the operator’s request, soliciting public comments on the matter. In January, staff from the Clean Air Council, Earthjustice and PennFuture filed a comment arguing against issuing the permit entirely — in part because of discrepancies on the permit application; in part because of the noise pollution that such data centers are known to cause; in part because the emissions intensity of cryptocurrency data mining is threatening to set back decades of climate progress; but primarily because, by the operator’s own admission, it has unresolved environmental violations at 19 other oil and gas sites. What the commenters didn’t know at the time was that the operator had jumped the gun and installed cryptocurrency infrastructure while awaiting the proper permits. The pad also appears to follow the exact trend environmentalists fear when it comes to the use of stranded fossil fuel assets for cryptocurrency: It sat inactive for years before Diversified bought it, saw low production volumes once online and was primed for cryptocurrency a few months into its productive life. **According to the PA-DEP, Diversified acquired Longhorn Pad C in September of 2021 from another prominent Marcellus operator, EQT, with which the company has been accused of “playing hot potato” with abandoned oil and gas wells.** EQT was initially permitted for the well pad in 2010, DEP records show. But it was unproductive for nearly 10 years after being spud (in which the initial drillings for an oil or gas well are made) in 2011, according to records reviewed by Capital & Main but compiled by the Capitol Forum, an investigative news and analysis organization. Per the PA-DEP, the well pad was placed on “inactive status” for that duration. After it sat undrilled for all that time, the well pad came online in December of 2021, according to the PA-DEP, after Diversified acquired it three months earlier, and was active for about six months before its new owner applied for permits that would give it a second life as a cryptocurrency mine in May of 2022. The well pad’s production volumes have remained relatively low since Diversified began drilling from it, totalling less than 90,000 cubic feet of natural gas for all four wells over all of 2022, Capitol Forum’s records show. The Internal Revenue Service defines a marginal, or low-producing, natural gas well to be one that generates less than 90,000 cubic feet per day. The timing of Diversified’s permit application, coupled with the well pad’s years of inactivity and recent meager production volumes, could indicate that it might have otherwise been a good candidate for decommissioning — and has since been thrown a lifeline. **“That is Diversified’s business model. They acquire underperforming assets and try to squeeze as much value out of them as possible,” said Daniel Sherwood, an editor at the Capitol Forum whose meticulously compiled database of production and financial records on the fossil fuel industry has also informed several critical reports by the nonprofit environmental think tank the Ohio River Valley Institute arguing that Diversified is employing questionable, potentially climate-threatening business practices.** “[Diversified] describes its strategy as ‘acquiring low-cost, long-life, low- decline’ oil and gas wells that previous owners found uneconomic,” an April 2022 report from the Ohio River Valley Institute reads. Should the company find itself unable to plug these wells, “Taxpayers could be left with a massive bill for cleaning up the wells that Diversified leaves behind, as well as an ongoing discharge of climate-warming greenhouse gases.” Diversified’s installation of a cryptocurrency mine comes as the commonwealth reckons with its abandoned well crisis. Environmental groups have warned that the practices of companies like this one, which is buying stranded and low- producing assets and assuming liability for plugging them based on questionable calculations, will do little to lessen this crisis. In other parts of the state, cryptocurrency miners are plugging directly into natural gas wellheads, old coal mines and former steel plants — could orphaned or low- producing wells offer Bitcoin a new frontier? The cryptocurrency industry appears to be positioning itself to solve the abandoned well crisis by assuming liability for low-producing wells and their plugging costs — only after using them to mine cryptocurrency via the proof- of-work (POW) algorithm for the rest of their productive lives. Via the POW algorithm, application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) miners mint new “coins” by competing with brute force guessing to solve a mathematical equation. This process is extremely energy intensive and, critics argue, wasteful by design. A small nonprofit lobbying group called the Satoshi Action Fund believes Bitcoin could, in fact, be an “environmental cleanup machine” for states with swaths of abandoned wells; by hooking up to wells that are already leaking methane, a potent greenhouse gas, to power a revenue-generating task, places like Pennsylvania can begin to take small bites out of their orphaned well numbers, founder Dennis Porter told Capital & Main. The organization has drafted sample legislation for states endeavoring to streamline the process for doing so. Dubbed the Orphaned Well Bitcoin Mining Partnership Program, the bill — which can be tweaked between states — mandates that state departments of environmental protection create programs that partner with Bitcoin miners to offer them liability for the state’s abandoned wells, as well as federal funds from well-plugging initiatives created by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The bill has already been introduced in Oklahoma, Mississippi and Texas. Environmentalists caution that going this route will only extend the lifeline of fossil fuel assets that are in desperate need of retirement. In the long term, they argue, adding cryptocurrency facilities to dying oil wells will further entrench us in fossil fuel dependency by creating newfound demand for oil and gas. “Crypto has the specter of restarting fossil [fuel] in Pennsylvania,” McPhedran said. “We’re a state that has seen a lot of harmful effects from coal and gas, and we don’t need a new way to use fossil fuels.” A Diversified spokesperson told Capital & Main that the company endeavors to “minimize” its “environmental footprint” while “providing clean energy” to communities. The company told Capital & Main it believes it is in compliance with environmental law. “Diversified takes pride in the responsible stewardship model we have built, where we focus on improving and managing producing natural gas and oil wells from acquisition through retirement,” Diversified’s spokesperson said. **Robert Routh, public policy and regulatory attorney at Clean Air Council, who co-authored the comment with McPhedran and Rob Altenburg, senior director for energy and climate at PennFuture, notes that the true volume of cryptocurrency mining across Pennsylvania has proven difficult to track, because some miners avert the permitting process entirely, attaching data centers to wells in remote areas for varying lengths of time without regulators ever taking note. Perhaps the most famous local instance of this took place in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, in January 2022, when a DEP inspector stopped by a natural gas well site owned by Big Dog Energy only to find that the company had installed data centers and accompanying generators on it without authorization.** “The mobility and the remoteness of some of these operations occurring at well sites in Pennsylvania makes them and their pollution extremely difficult to quantify,” Routh says. But local communities around these sites are beginning to notice. Just 14 miles from Longhorn Pad C, the township of St. Mary’s recently adopted a zoning ordinance for future cryptocurrency projects that requires all future mines to be set at least 100 feet from a street or property boundary, to stay within a maximum sound level and to produce evidence that they won’t adversely affect the city’s electrical grid or Wi-Fi connections. A zoning officer with the city told Capital & Main that the City Council was prompted to pass the ordinance in part in response to Diversified’s cryptocurrency permit application. **And in Jay Township, the Board of Supervisors is urging the PA-DEP to account for noise limitations as it considers permits for Longhorn Pad C. “What efforts are being made to reduce the unreasonable noise beyond the property line?” they wrote in their comment.** The PA-DEP has yet to issue a permit for the well, but if it does, that would be against the law, argue the comment authors, who believe the operator’s unaddressed environmental violations would render it ineligible for new permits under the state’s Air Pollution Control Act. The PA-DEP’s Decker did not comment on how Diversified’s premature installation of equipment would affect its pending permit application. “We can only say that it is a violation and PA-DEP could take enforcement action in cases where it becomes known,” he said. URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/27/pennsylvania-now-has-crypto- mining-problems-including-sustained-noise-ghg-emissions/>

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IPCC Says Fossil Fuels Must Be Closed Down ASAP To Avoid Catastrophic Events
by Frack Check WV: Diana Gooding 26 Mar '23

26 Mar '23

# [IPCC Says Fossil Fuels Must Be Closed Down ASAP To Avoid Catastrophic Events](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/26/ipcc-says-fossil-fuels-must- be-closed-down-asap-to-avoid-catastrophic-events/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/03/FBF90FE8-3B44-4060-83A1-426E8EF4C13E-300x273.jpg)](… content/uploads/2023/03/FBF90FE8-3B44-4060-83A1-426E8EF4C13E.jpeg) “Keep It In The Ground” where Mother Nature Put It! **TEN (10) POLICIES FOR LIMITING G.H.G. AND MEETING CLIMATE GOALS** From an [Article by Joseph Winters, Grist Magazine](https://grist.org/economics/the-ipcc-says-we-need-to-phase-down- fossil-fuels-fast-heres-how-the-us-could-do-it/), March 24, 2023 **The IPCC says we need to phase down fossil fuels, fast. Here’s how the US could do it. A new report lists 10 policies to constrain polluting infrastructure and achieve key climate goals.** On Monday, a panel of the world’s top climate scientists released a grave warning: Current policies are not enough to stave off the most devastating consequences of climate change. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, climate pollution from the world’s existing coal, oil, and gas projects is already enough to launch the planet past 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming, and world leaders must abandon up to $4 trillion in fossil fuels and related infrastructure by midcentury if they want to keep within safe temperature limits. Instead, rich countries like the United States are going in the opposite direction. Just last week, President Joe Biden approved ConocoPhillips’ Willow Project, a so-called “carbon bomb” that could add some 239 million metric tons of carbon emissions to the atmosphere, about as much as the annual emissions from 64 coal-fired power plants. A new report released this week, “An Economist’s Case for Restrictive Supply- Side Policies,” argues that bans, moratoria, and similar measures are sorely needed to keep the United States from extracting more fossil fuels. It highlights 10 policies that can complement clean energy investments to help the country achieve the goals of the IPCC while also prioritizing the health and economic security of America’s most vulnerable communities. “The IPCC shows that restrictive supply-side measures have to be part of the policy mix,” said Mark Paul, a Rutgers University professor and a coauthor of the report. “We actually need to stop extracting and burning fossil fuels, there’s just no way around it.” Until quite recently, most American economists and policymakers have focused on demand-side solutions to climate change — primarily a carbon price that would leave curbing greenhouse gas emissions up to market forces. Supply-side policies, on the other hand, are concerned with suppressing the amount of fossil fuels available for purchase. They come in two flavors: supportive and restrictive. Supportive supply-side policies include some of the tax credits and subsidies in the Inflation Reduction Act, the climate spending law that Biden signed last year, which support renewable energy to displace fossil fuels. Restrictive policies more actively seek to constrain fossil fuel development. Some of the most aggressive policies recommended in the new report would use congressional authority to stop new fossil fuel projects, whether by banning new leases for extraction on federal lands and in federal waters or by outlawing all new pipelines, export terminals, gas stations, and other infrastructure nationwide. Other measures would use economic levers to restrict fossil fuel development. For example, taxing the fossil fuel industry’s windfall profits could curtail supply by making oil and gas production less profitable. Requiring publicly traded companies to disclose their climate-related financial risks could also accelerate decarbonization by making polluters without credible transition plans unattractive to investors. The benefit of these policies, Paul said, is that they can directly constrain carbon-intensive activities and therefore more certainly guarantee a reduction in climate pollution. That’s not the case with demand-side policies, where lawmakers have to hope that consumers’ behavior will lead to less fossil fuel being produced and burned. (The Inflation Reduction Act included some of these policies, like consumer subsidies for electric vehicles and other low- emissions technologies.) Restrictive supply-side policies in the U.S. can also support international decarbonization. If the U.S. were to only reduce domestic demand for fossil fuels while keeping supply high, it could reduce the price of oil, gas, and coal abroad — incentivizing other countries to use more of those fuels. That said, not all restrictive supply-side policies are an easy sell. Some, like nationalizing the fossil fuel industry — which would effectively neutralize the sector’s outsize political influence and allow it to be dismantled in an orderly fashion — have not yet entered the political mainstream. Others, however, are closer to reality, and five have previously been introduced in congressional bills. The Keep It in the Ground Act, for example, introduced in 2021 by Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, from Oregon, sought to prevent public lands and waters from being leased for fossil fuel extraction. The 2021 Block All New Oil Exports Act, sponsored by Democratic Senator Ed Markey, from Massachusetts, proposed reinstating a ban on exporting U.S. crude oil and natural gas, which was in place for 40 years before Congress lifted it in 2015. Philipe Le Billon, a geography professor at the University of British Columbia who runs a database on restrictive supply-side policies to curtail fossil fuels around the world, said ending federal subsidies to the fossil fuel industry is the policy most likely to garner bipartisan political support. “It would be so easy to say, ‘Come on, you made $200 billion last year, so no more subsidies,’” he told Grist. The End Polluter Welfare Act, introduced in 2021 by Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders, from Vermont, and Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar, from Minnesota, sought to do just that, in addition to stopping public funds from being used for fossil fuel research and development. The fossil fuel industry gets somewhere between $10 and $50 billion in U.S. subsidies every year. Paul said it’s hard to imagine any of the policies being enacted while the House of Representatives is under Republican leadership, but he highlighted the climate-related financial risk disclosure policy as a candidate for bipartisan support, since it seeks to inform action from investors. “Even the staunchest capitalist should be on board with this,” he said. Outside of Congress, the Securities and Exchange Commission, an independent federal agency that protects investors from financial fraud and manipulation, has proposed such a policy. Subnational “fossil-free zones” — areas that are off-limits to some or all types of fossil fuel development, like oil and gas drilling, gas stations, or export terminals — could be promising too; they’ve already been declared in many communities, and they demonstrate how combined demand- and supply-side interventions could play a role in a more comprehensive fossil fuel phaseout. To gain momentum for restrictive supply-side policies, Paul said it’s crucial to educate policymakers about “the actual math” behind U.S. and international climate goals. Investments in clean energy are a good start, Paul said, but they’re just “the first bite out of the apple. We need many more bites to limit emissions and preserve some semblance of a habitable planet.” ### URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/26/ipcc-says-fossil-fuels-must-be- closed-down-asap-to-avoid-catastrophic-events/>

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