Morning Links: Fracking Bans, More Fracking Bans, An Industry-Funded School Curriculum, And Bryce Harper

Good morning, and happy belated Fourth of July –

First, the important news: 18-year-old phenom Bryce Harper went 2-3 with a walk in his debut for the AA Harrisburg Senators, where the Nationals’ top draft pick is expected to stay for the rest of the baseball season.
And now, on to today’s environmental headlines:
Ohio will make more than $1 million, disposing fracking fluid from drillers in Pennsylvania and other states.
DEP has approved a permit for a new $150 million natural gas-fueled power plant in Washington County.
Chesapeake Energy, Chief Oil and Gas and other drilling companies have donated thousands of dollars to a program aimed at creating a “Jobs in Energy” curriculum for Western Pennsylvania middle schoolers.
There’s an effort underway to ban fracking in State College Centre County. Geology has pretty much taken care of that already, since the Marcellus Shale doesn’t run through State College. But advocates of the ban point out the borough does sit on top of the Utica Shale, and could therefore see drilling in the future.
Meantime, Governor Chris Christie hasn’t decided whether or not to sign a fracking ban passed by New Jersey lawmakers. (Like State College, the Garden State has Utica Shale, but no Marcellus.)

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