For the second time in as many years Walter Hang makes alarming claims his “facts” just don’t support. It’s another case of “massive” mischaracterization of DEC data.

Walter Hang is at it again. We know, from his earlier efforts, the founder of Toxics Targeting, an Ithaca, New York, based environmental auditing firm, knows his way around government reports. We also know, from previous experience, Walter tends to gloss over details, resulting in significant errors in reporting and…

ANYBODY KNOW IF OR WHEN THEY ARE DRILLING ON MOCK OR WEAVER SOON?

Bloomberg News takes the low road through small-town Pennsylvania by siding with the plaintiffs in a natural gas lawsuit, making major factual errors and choosing sensation over substance at almost every turn.

Like a lot of small communities, the village of Franklin Forks in northeastern Pennsylvania can be pretty confusing to outsiders, especially if they’re just passing through. It can be hard enough to find your way back to the Interstate, so trying to understand the inner workings…

Last week, for the first time in Susquehanna County’s history, landowners there were given the ability to utilize a natural resource they have been developing in the area for years. Through the efforts of Leatherstocking Gas Company, natural gas is now being used at Pennsy Supply in Montrose to make asphalt. I had the opportunity to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony where representatives from Williams Midstream and Cabot Oil and Gas were also present. Others in attendance included State…

A few weeks back John Hanger, former Pennsylvania Secretary of Environmental Protection, used his blog to point out New York State sure is using a whole lot of natural gas. He noted “New York’s appetite for natural gas got a lot bigger in the first half of 2012, when its consumption of natural gas rose 18.6%, compared to the same period in 2011.”

Hanger then went on to draw a rather poignant contrast between that state’s rhetoric and its actions, stating “given all the heat from…

Ever since the early 1970’s the public has assumed the U.S. is running out of domestic sources of energy. The OPEC oil crisis of 1973 reinforced this idea as people waited in long lines to buy gasoline at skyrocketing prices. Much of the current opposition to natural gas development stems from the persistent narrative that energy is scarce and all fossil fuels are bad for the environment.

These ideas have been repeated so many times they have become unquestioned articles of faith in…

Many government policies are developed and implemented based on little data or understanding of how they impact businesses or consumers. Over the years, my firm has examined hundreds of policy proposals, documenting how they impact not only the economy, but consumers, businesses, and the general public.

More often than not, we find that even the most well-intentioned regulations have serious and costly consequences, many of which are far worse than the problem that the regulation was…

Think about this statement for a moment: “Pipelines connect natural gas supplies to end users.” Why would I focus on something seemingly so obvious?

Because this simple reality seems to have been lost on many as the focus in the Marcellus Shale region moves toward building much needed infrastructure. Low natural gas prices, coupled with a…

If you ask a strident natural gas activist the largest threat to Pennsylvania’s water quality they will likely tell you –without hesitation- that hydraulic fracturing is the main culprit despite any evidence supporting this assertion. Ask someone who truly understands the challenges facing Pennsylvania and you will receive a much different answer. Mainly, an expert will tell you agricultural runoff, sewage overflows, and suburban runoff are more serious culprits as they actually pollute…

Last Saturday, there was a rally at Otsiningo Park in Binghamton, New York featuring two men running for office, both of whom are openly opposed to natural gas development in New York State. The rally brought out about 150 people altogether, both pro and con with respect to natural gas. The latter thought it would be a great opportunity for their traveling band of the disgruntled to gather at the park but ,when the supporters of natural gas got word, they gathered as well.…

What does modern natural gas development have in common with early railroads, electricity and indoor plumbing? Well, each of those major Victorian age innovations spurred entire industries, replaced old ways of doing things and greatly improved people’s everyday lives. Today we depend on railroads, electricity, and modern plumbing and take them for granted. But when first introduced all were feared and vigorously opposed by much of the public. Sound familiar? History repeats…

Many people ask me if they should join a landowners’ group. The answer I give varies, but most often it is my least favorite answer to any question: “It depends.” To appreciate this answer, let’s examine two of the more common forms of landowner groups.

Grass Roots Groups. Some landowner groups are grass-roots efforts by local landowners who join together to promote education and the sharing of information in advance of low-ball leasing efforts of landmen and…

We notice a new phrase cropping up a lot lately in the arguments of NIMBY types and other anti-growth advocates – “forest fragmentation.” It sounds ominous, of course, and, therefore, our friends on the other side of the natural gas debate have seized upon it. There’s nothing negative that doesn’t make them go wobbly in the knees, after all. Recently, some of those folks have turned to a USGS report on Bradford and Washington Counties for evidence natural gas development will somehow leave…

A recent tour of natural gas development operations in northeastern Pennsylvania provided Countryside Conservancy supporters with new insights on the process. It was a welcome opportunity to share the facts often getting lost in the debate. The tour hosted around 25 people some of whom own land under conservancy protection and the rest being local folks from the Wilkes Barre and Scranton areas. Conservancy Executive Director, Bill Kern, arranged the tour to provide friends of the group with…

A group of French and Canadian media, as well as members of the French delegation traveled to Dimock, Pennsylvania for a natural gas well site tour last weekend. France sent the government officials to Pennsylvania specifically for them to gather information about natural gas development and report what they learned. This group was part of a larger tour consisting of activists from Quebec and members of their legislature conducting a “window” tour of natural gas activity in the Marcellus…

A few weeks ago the Oneonta Star printed two AP stories with no apparent connection. However, what I call “The Gas Wars” make for strange bedfellows, even on the news beat. Let me explain the connection.

The first story was a report out of the Empire Center, a non-partisan think tank that focuses on New York. In “The Graying of the Empire State: Some Parts of NY Grow Older Faster,” the researchers highlighted the growing regional differences in age distribution, particularly in young…

Damascus, Pennsylvania, is home to me. I grew up there on a farm my great-grandfather established in the late 1800s and his grandfather is buried in the Hillside Cemetery there. I graduated from the same Damascus High School my parents did and had some of the same teachers. My mother, my brothers, my son and grandson all call it home, too. I own land there that I leased for energy development long before I ever heard of Energy In Depth. I’m related to most of the folks who live in Tyler Hill…

Early the other morning Joe and I traveled to Dimock, Pennsylvania to talk with some residents about “the box” Energy in Depth has mentioned in a couple different posts. The box is a nine square mile area in Dimock where Cabot Oil and Gas was temporarily forced to stop all production until further notice from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The DEP has officially given Cabot Oil and Gas the go ahead to continue exploring natural gas wells that have already been prepped for…

In his “Dot Earth” blog for The New York Times, writer Andrew Revkin recently wrote (8/31/12) that a frequent talking point for natural gas foes is “the prospect of gas companies poised to deploy a forest of rigs to drill 50,000 wells.” A forest of rigs would indeed be a frightening prospect, but it’s really nowhere on the horizon – not now, nor ever.…

The following is a letter Sondra Bauernfeind, a retired schoolteacher from Sullivan County, New York recently sent our Governor, Andrew Cuomo in an appeal for action to address Sullivan County, New York’s long pressing economic development crisis. "I offer it in the hope others will also write him and share their sentiments as well. The time for action on our economic crisis is now and the remedy is right before our eyes – natural gas. Please review and write a letter of your own."…