Influence

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Who’s giving money to the people setting Pennsylvania’s energy policy?

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February 11, 2013

Environmentalists Call on EPA to Revisit Range Contamination Case

Dozens of environmental groups have written to the EPA’s inspector general, asking him to investigate how and why the EPA dropped its legal action against Range Resources in a Texas water contamination case. Last week, EnergyWire reported that former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell had intervened on the company’s behalf. Last month, a report by the [...]

February 7, 2013

Rendell Downplays Role in Range Contamination Case

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell says gas driller Range Resources never authorized him to speak on their behalf to the EPA about a Texas contamination case. On Tuesday, EnergyWire published a piece quoting email exchanges between EPA officials that would suggest Rendell went to bat for Range over a high-profile methane migration case in Parker County, [...]

February 6, 2013

Corbett Touts Energy Jobs in Budget Address

There were no mentions of Pennsylvania beating Texas to become the nation’s new “energy state,” but Governor Tom Corbett spent almost four minutes talking energy in Tuesday’s 2013 budget address. Corbett praised the job-creation of Pennsylvania’s burgeoning energy sector, saying it resulted in “hundreds of thousands of new jobs.” But what Corbett didn’t talk about, [...]

February 5, 2013

Pa. Gov. Rendell Intervened on Behalf of Gas Driller in Texas Contamination Case

Emails reveal former Pa. Gov. Ed Rendell stepped in on behalf of Range Resources, to press the EPA to settle a case about methane migration in Texas, back in 2011. EnergyWire published a piece today, using information gained from a Freedom of Information Act request about the high profile methane migration case in Parker County [...]

January 17, 2013

AP: Range Resources Gets EPA to Reverse Course in Texas Contamination Case

The Associated Press has obtained a report conducted for the EPA regarding the source of methane in private water wells in the Fort Worth suburb of Weatherford, Texas. The report links contamination to drilling activity by Range Resources. But the AP reports that Range Resources pressured the EPA to drop their case against the company, [...]

December 26, 2012

Major EPA Fracking Study Will Tap Into Pennsylvania Data

A major Environmental Protection Agency report on natural gas drilling will include a lot of information from Pennsylvania. The federal study won’t be released until 2014, but the agency recently published a progress report. The EPA is examining five stages of hydraulic fracturing, and assessing each step’s risk of contaminating drinking water. That includes everything [...]

December 20, 2012

While Touting Transparency, Corbett Declines to Explain Free Vacation

At a press conference promoting a new government transparency website, Corbett refused to explain why he accepted a free vacation from a friend and campaign donor who does business with the natural gas industry.

At a press conference to promote a new government transparency website, Governor Corbett was reluctant to answer questions about a free vacation he took to Rhode Island last year, paid for by a friend who does business with the natural gas industry. StateImpact Pennsylvania first reported the trip, which was originally omitted from Corbett’s filing with the [...]

Ethics Filing Shows Corbett Took Free Vacation from Businessman with Ties to Gas Industry

In July 2011, Governor Corbett took a vacation to Rhode Island that was paid for by a central Pennsylvania businessman with ties to the natural gas drilling industry. The trip was noted in a November revision to Corbett’s annual statement of financial interests with the State Ethics Commission. It shows that John Moran, Jr. spent $1,422 on air [...]

December 7, 2012

Appeals Court Agrees with Newspapers in Sealed Fracking Case

A Pennsylvania appeals court has ruled in favor of two newspapers seeking to unseal court records in a fracking contamination case. Hallowich v. Range Resources is one of the most closely watched cases involving claims of health impacts and property damage against a Marcellus Shale gas driller. But when the case was settled, the Court [...]

December 5, 2012

The Energy Information Administration’s New Report, In Four Charts

The analysts at the United States Energy Information Administration released their preliminary annual report on energy use Wednesday afternoon. (The full document won’t come out until early next year.) The forecast aims to predict domestic energy production, use and cost over the next three decades. What’s it say? Here are some highlights from in four easy-to-understand charts. [...]

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