Debate

The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) has dropped its two cents into the debate over the validity of a draft Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report on the potential link of groundwater contamination to hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in Pavillion, WY.

While the debate over hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the Cumnock Formation stalls in the North Carolina General Assembly, two municipalities have taken steps to regulate the practice locally.

Exasperated with being at the center of a pitched debate over the safety of hydraulic fracturing (fracking), elected officials in Dimock Township, PA, voted unanimously to decline an offer by the city of Binghamton, NY, about 30 miles away, to deliver potable water supplies to some of the town’s residents.

Exasperated with being at the center of a pitched debate over the safety of hydraulic fracturing (fracking), elected officials in Dimock Township, PA, voted unanimously Monday evening to decline an offer by the city of Binghamton, NY about 30 miles away, to deliver potable water supplies to some of the town’s residents.

The debate in New Brunswick over shale gas development in the emerging Frederick Brook Shale continued to escalate Thursday, with politicians on opposing sides of the issue trading barbs and setting the stage for a showdown this week in the Legislative Assembly.

Another shoe dropped Tuesday in the debate over creating national subsidies for natural gas used in vehicular transportation as the large manufacturing sector expressed strong opposition to a proposal released earlier this month in the U.S. Senate (S 1863) to expand tax credits for gas transportation infrastructure and vehicles (see Daily GPI, Nov. 17). At the same time, industrial users struck back against potential widespread U.S. exports of gas.

After three days of deliberations, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed an impact fee on oil and gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale by a 107-76 vote.

The Pennsylvania Senate approved a 3% impact fee on oil and natural gas drillers on Tuesday night, moving the Keystone State one step closer to possibly generating revenue from Marcellus Shale development. Meanwhile the state House of Representatives, after three days of tacking on amendments, is poised to pass its own competing bill Thursday (Nov. 17).

In a new national consumer poll, natural gas beat renewables and other forms of energy as to which projects should be considered for expansion, something an overwhelming majority of consumers also say would create badly needed jobs in a struggling economy.