he natural gas industry is looking to use abandoned mine drainage during the hydraulic fracturing of gas wells. This innovation is currently being practiced by some operators and assists in mitigating environmental impacts. Although it is a win-win situation some ‘environmental’ groups still oppose the practice, revealing much about who they really are.

Next week we will recognize the birthday of Edwin Drake, the man who drilled the first oil well in Pennsylvania. It makes one wonder…

The time for platitudes about saving upstate New York is over. It’s time to take action. Governor Cuomo needs to put all the loose talk about acting on science, when he’s really playing politics, behind us. Upstate is dying and the Governors make-believe actions aren’t going to save it.

Candidate Andrew Cuomo said, “We must make New York the jobs capital of the nation and get unemployed New Yorkers back to work….Upstate continues to witness the crumbling of its manufacturing…

The Associated Press (AP) has noted Yoko Ono’s “Artists Against Fracking” is collecting money to influence public policy in New York but hasn’t bother registering as a lobby group. The article is worth reading and exposes the hypocrisy of the privileged 1% who attack the natural gas industry for lobbying efforts. Here we provide some additional facts the article missed.

There are hints in the Associated Press story that point to the bigger picture, when the Sustainable Markets…

It seems Governor Cuomo has decided to sell out Upstate New York and its workers by putting natural gas development on hold. Reports claim Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. convinced Cuomo the health risk was too great and he should await the results of a Pennsylvania health study for which there is no scheduled deliverable. It suggests there is a lot more to the story and, of course, there is.

Governor Cuomo didn’t put his former brother-in-law on the Hydraulic Fracturing Advisory Committee out…

The Pittsburgh Technology Institute recently broke ground on its new Energy Technology Center just west of Pittsburgh in North Fayette Township. The center will provide a home base for two new programs designed to train workers for in-demand jobs in the oil and natural gas industry.

Natural gas development continues to expand across Pennsylvania, and so, too, does the opportunity for job growth in the region. The Pittsburgh Technology Institute recently broke ground on a new facility…

A wealthy township supervisor in Robinson Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania has been delaying natural gas development for local residents while he enjoys a lap of luxury and flies high.

Many residents in Robinson Township are looking for natural gas development to come to their land so they can pay bills and keep their farms so they can be passed down to future generations. The Chairman of the Board of Supervisor of the township is currently using his power to deny them this…

"Pennsylvania played an important role in our nation's history and the Dennis Farm in Susquehanna County is one shining example. Now, thanks in part to a natural gas lease with Cabot Oil and Gas, this piece of American, African-American, and Pennsylvania history is being preserved and restored. It's a story worth hearing and a project worth supporting.

If you are from Pennsylvania, chances are that you are aware of the profound role our state had in shaping the United States of…

Allegheny County is poised for growth after the County’s decision to allow oil and gas development at the Pittsburgh International Airport. The move brings with it incredible investment and future opportunity for the county and its economic growth.

Last week, the Allegheny County Council approved an ordinance authorizing the lease of 9,263 acres surrounding the Pittsburgh International Airport to CONSOL Energy for oil and natural gas development.

The vote, which passed 9-4,…

Vocational schools across the state are offering natural gas job training programs, as Don Roessler explains. He highlights the Western Area Career & Technology Center in Washington County.

As we know, with natural gas development, comes jobs. Most only think about the drill rig roughnecks when they think about these jobs, but it goes much deeper than that, as there are many support industries that service the natural gas industry and infrastructure fields.

From…

The Delaware Riverkeeper and friends have gone hyperbolic over the Tennessee Gas Pipeline upgrade of its natural gas pipeline through Pike County, claiming all sorts of forest disasters from this project intended to deliver more inexpensive energy to New Jersey but their real goal isn’t to protect trees or rivers, but to stop natural gas development anywhere and they’re paid to do it.



“Serial protestor” Alex Lotorto and the Delaware Riverkeeper, the arch-typical…

A petition circulating in Rockland County, New York shows downstate New Yorkers lack an understanding of where their heat comes from and appear to just be biting at the hand that heats. A majority of Rockland County is heated by natural gas. Why would an area that uses natural gas so much want to continue to delay natural gas development from coming into New York’s Southern tier.

I recently heard from a friend who lives in West Nyack, New York that someone was going door-to-door…

This past week was very busy for the VestalGas Coalition as the organization brought in a great group of speakers to discuss natural gas development and take definitive action to move it forward in New York State, hoping to motivate an indecisive Governor Cuomo.

The Vestal Gas Coalition heard presentations this past week from several industry leaders and professionals, all intent in persisting in bringing pressure on Governor Cuomo to finally move natural gas development forward in…

Natural gas efficiency is a win for both consumers and the environment. Waste heat exhaust can be used productively with flue recovery systems that capture heat and water for reuse in productive and profitable ways that also reduce CO2.

According to the World Energy Conference last year, natural gas is going to be the world’s most important energy source from now until 2050. This has all been brought about by the new technology developed here in America; horizontal drilling and…

Mike Petro is a graduate of Vestal Senior High School and currently a student at Broome Community College (BCC) working towards an AS in Environmental Science. He has been accepted at Binghamton University for the Fall 2013 semester, where he looks to obtain a bachelors degree in Environmental Studies: Policy and Law. He is currently enrolled in BCC’s Community Internship course and is interning with the Vestal Gas Coalition. He will be submitting a series of posts on the natural gas…

Betty Sutliff, Wayne County Landowner, member of Northern Wayne Property Owners Alliance, retired schoolteacher and mother comments on the increasing tendency of the natural gas opposition to exploit children in their campaigns, while also pursuing the indoctrination of these young minds.

Children: Everyone recognizes the weight given to the indoctrination of them when they are young and impressionable, but the type of indoctrination and the relationship to the children of those…

The drama that is the New York State decision process on natural gas development is a Shakespearean tragedy in so many ways, but especially for businesses, landowners and residents of the Southern Tier, for whom all the talk about the SGEIS, regulations and health reviews are but excuses for political inaction which are giving groups such as the NRDC exactly what they want – more delay. Last week, I fielded about 20 questions from media and supporters asking for my analysis of what in the…

Last week about 125 people gathered in Binghamton to attend a rally hosted by local labor union members. The rally featured several important speakers who articulated the many reasons why natural gas is so essential to the economy of the Southern Tier and the lives of union workers who reside there.

Southern Tier union workers rallied last week in Binghamton to send a message to New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, whose repeated delays in approving natural gas development have…

The “Energy Mom” is an engineer, management consultant and investment manager who has spent most of her career working in the energy business. She lives in New York City, has three kids, lots of pets and a husband. Here she reports on testimony she gave before a committee of the New York State Assembly.

Last month I testified in front of a New York Assembly hearing on HIgh Volume Hydraulic Fracturing hosted by: Robert Sweeney, Chair of the Assembly Committee on Environmental…

The Sustainable Markets Foundation is behind much of the supposedly organic opposition to natural gas development in upstate New York and is using money from the Park Foundation and the Rockefellers to fund the effort with management and coordinative help from Walter Hang.

Why would a non-profit organization spending $4 million per year to “promote environmental protection, energy efficiency, consumer protection, health and safety and good government” not have a website? How can an…