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John Sabo and Josh Thieler grew up in Pittsburgh-area communities that were hit hard as 200,000 steel and manufacturing jobs disappeared from the region, upending their parents’ generation and leaving main streets pocked with empty storefronts. Sabo, the son and grandson of mill workers, says his father rarely found steady work after losing his job in a U.S. Steel mill, leaving Sabo to “know what government cheese tastes like.” Thieler spent part of his childhood in a trailer park in a small city that shed nearly half its population as families hunted elsewhere for work. Today, both men have good...

Coal and fracking don’t work like other declining industries, and that matters for Democrats. A decade ago, the American coal industry began to die. From 2011 to 2016, more than 39,000 jobs eroded away. At a scientific conference last year, I met a group of researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich who were curious about how this had affected American politics and, most pointedly, Donald Trump’s razor-thin victory in Rust Belt statesp>

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Children who lived closer to natural gas wells in heavily drilled western Pennsylvania were more likely to develop a relatively rare form of cancer, and nearby residents of all ages had an increased chance of severe asthma reactions, researchers said in reports released Tuesday evening. The taxpayer-funded research by the University of Pittsburgh adds to a body of evidence suggesting links between the gas industry and certain health problems. In the reports, the researchers found what they called significant associations between gas industry activity and two ailments: asthma, and lymphoma in children, who are relatively rarely diagnosed...

Children who lived closer to natural gas wells in heavily drilled western Pennsylvania were more likely to develop a relatively rare form of cancer, and nearby residents of all ages had an increased chance of severe asthma reactions, researchers said in reports released Tuesday evening. The taxpayer-funded research by the University of Pittsburgh adds to a body of evidence suggesting links between the gas industry and certain health problems. In the reports, the researchers found what they called significant associations between gas industry activity and two ailments: asthma, and lymphoma in children, who are relatively rarely diagnosed with this type...

WASHINGTON — The White House on Wednesday began a new effort to crack down on methane emissions, a major contributor to climate change. The first-ever White House Methane Summit came at a time of severe heat across much of the U.S., including in Pittsburgh, where temperatures are expected to approach or exceed 90 degrees until the weekend. President Joe Biden established a new methane task force to work with state and local officials to detect leaks and reduce emissions. The White House said billions of dollars of natural gas are lost to leaks every year. In Pennsylvania, methane accounts for...

As you kind people know, I have been writing about the moronic ban on fracking that Mr. Biden promised to impose on our nation almost the moment he was inaugurated. This measure would have cut domestic oil and gas production by more than 35 percent since early 2021. It has caused oil and gas prices to skyrocket as oil and gas became in short supply. We would have to beg countries that hate us for oil. We are already draining our strategic petroleum reserve — a life/or/death military asset — at an alarming rate. As it happened, Mr. Biden “walked...

According to Jeff Flock there are 500,000 jobs in Pennsylvania linked to the oil sector producing $800 billion to the economy. (That number seems a high) The U.S. fracking revolution has caused natural gas prices to drop 47 percent compared to what the price would have been prior to the fracking revolution in 2013. A 2020 study found that a fracking ban would increase annual household energy costs by over $600 per year.

Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman would not commit to having his doctor brief the press on his medical records ahead of the upcoming midterm election in a recent interview that saw him frequently stumble over his words. [cut] Fetterman replied that he feels his campaign has been "pretty transparent," [cut] Later in the interview, Fetterman was also asked about his flip-flop on fracking. Pressed on the issue and how to "square" his previous comments against fracking with his current position, Fetterman said during last week’s debate, "I do support fracking, and I don’t, I don’t — I support fracking,...

Despite deep ideological differences between Mehmet Oz, a right-leaning Republican, and John Fetterman, a left-leaning Democrat, the U.S. Senate campaign in Pennsylvania has mostly skirted the issues. It has been a slugfest, marked by relentless attacks and counter-attacks that generated more heat than light. Mr. Oz hammered on — and sometimes misrepresented — Mr. Fetterman’s criminal justice policies, even though a U.S. senator has nothing to do with state criminal justice and sentencing policies. Mr. Fetterman, in turn, characterized Mr. Oz’s legitimate calls for Mr. Fetterman to release his medical records as mean-spirited and insensitive. His campaign huffed and puffed...

Disney-Marvel movie star and anti-fossil fuel activist Mark Ruffalo warned Republican candidate for New York governor, Lee Zeldin, to get out of the way of Democratic incumbent Kathy Hochul. He based his support on Hochul’s declared opposition to fracking and the construction of new gas power plants, urging Democrats to get the vote out in her name while calling Zeldin “a far right extremist wacko.”

HARRISBURG – The General Assembly has sent the governor legislation that will create a new program to encourage the development of technology to convert fracked gas into hydrogen through $141.6 million a year in tax credits. The approval of House Bill 1059 came over the objections of environmental groups and some Democrats who said that the plan will keep Pennsylvania invested in fossil fuel production for decades even as much of the world turns toward renewable energy. “State lawmakers have clearly not learned from example after example of broken promises,” said former Secretary of Environmental Protection Patrick McDonnell, now the...

Almost as quickly as UK Prime Minister Liz Truss was ousted from office, so too was her (now-temporary) order to resume gas shale fracking - a plan which included offering UK households £1,000 each for allowing the practice in their neighborhoods.According to the Financial Times, her successor - the WEF-sponsored (of "great reset, eat bugs, own nothing and be happy" fame) Rishi Sunak is reversing Truss's order, and reinstating the fracking ban.During his first prime minister’s questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday, the new UK prime minister told MPs that he “stands by” the Conservative party’s 2019 manifesto...

Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman stumbled during Tuesday’s debate with his GOP challenger, Dr. Mehmet Oz, after he was asked about prior statements he made in opposition to fracking, a process he now says he has “always supported.” “I’ve always supported fracking and I always believe that independence with our energy is critical, and we can’t be held, you know, ransom to somebody like Russia,” Fetterman said. “I’ve always believed that energy independence is critical and I’ve always believed that — and I do support fracking, never taken any money from their industry, but I support how critical it...

My lord, this may be the saddest moment I've ever seen on a debate stage. pic.twitter.com/4mSKqirry9— Andrew Surabian (@Surabees) October 25, 2022

CNN — Pennsylvania Democratic Senate Candidate John Fetterman said in a national television interview last week that he has always supported fracking in his state, but in 2018 Fetterman said he never supported the industry and “never” will. The comments are part of a long and often contradictory series of positions from the Senate candidate on the industry, which provides tens of thousands of jobs and contributes millions to Pennsylvania’s economy. [cut] Said he did not support fracking and never has in 2018 [cut] Called it a “stain” in 2016..

... Russia supplied around 40% of all the gas consumed in the EU in 2021. Germany is especially reliant on this supply of cheap gas. Gas only generates about 15% of the country’s electricity but many rely on it for heating and it is vital to heavy industries such as petrochemicals that use a lot of energy. Drastic measures are now necessary to secure alternative supplies, reduce gas demand and prepare for the possibility of shortages this winter. The EU’s Save Gas for a Safe Winter program aims to reduce overall gas demand by 15% across the bloc this winter...

British Prime Minister Liz Truss on Thursday unveiled plans to freeze domestic energy bills for two years. Truss also lifted a moratorium on fracking in a bid to secure increased energy supply. The government said it would also review progress towards its target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Truss became Britain's prime minister on Tuesday, replacing Boris Johnson. ===== SNIP ===== What is Truss' energy plan? Truss announced a cap on consumer energy bills for two years in a package that could cost around 150 billion pounds ($173 billion, €173 billion). The plan will be funded by government borrowing....

Liz Truss vows ‘never again’ on exorbitant energy bills Prime Minister pledges to ‘revolutionise’ supply as she takes action to ease household fuel crisis. Britons must never again be forced to pay exorbitant energy bills, Liz Truss will declare on Thursday as she promises more North Sea drilling and ditches the fracking ban.

Sky News host Andrew Bolt says the Greta Thunberg cult has “gone bust”. “A mere child, full of rage, obsessed with doom, totally devoid of any practical solutions – but here she was lecturing the world on how to fuel their 21st century economies,” Mr Bolt said. “Thunberg is now a victim of her own success in scaring people into doing very, very stupid things that we're now paying for.”

As the Ukraine war continues, Germany is scrambling to reduce its dependence on Russian gas. Could fracked gas, long taboo in the country, creep into the energy mix? Temperatures might be soaring across Germany but staying warm this winter without Russian gas — which until the start of the Ukraine war supplied over 50% of annual demand — is already a pressing concern. Plans to make up the shortfall, if Russian supplies run dry, are already in place: Higher liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, restarting dormant coal plants, and even delaying the nuclear power phaseout. But most surprising is talk...