RDA In The NewsDrilling in Rock Run?
RDA's Keep it Wild event in Ralston is mentioned in Williamsport Sun-Gazette article about whether and when Anadarko will drill Rock Run.
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Support the
Keep it Wild Campaign!
Responsible Drilling Alliance is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization funded entirely by donations. Running the Keep It WILD campaign costs money and we need your help to recuperate funds. Please considering donating. We accept money through PayPal via the RDA website.
Donations may also be
sent by mail to:
Responsible Drilling Alliance
PO Box 502
Williamsport, PA 17703
Thank you for your support!
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The Golden Eagle Trail:
Hike it Before it's FRACKED
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Winter vista on Golden Eagle Trail. Image: Travis Weaver
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by Morgan Myers
Nestled in Pine Creek Valley, the Golden Eagle Trail is a strenuous 9-mile loop with a total elevation of 4,382 feet. The trail snakes through gullies, hugs cliffs, and steeply ascends, so be sure to wear comfy boots. Climbing the rugged terrain yields an enormous payoff: the trail's panoramic vistas are breathtaking even in poor conditions.
Breathe air so clean and fresh it's dizzying. See old-growth hemlocks some 8 feet in diameter. Experience the silence of remote contiguous forest - the kind of quiet that makes your ears buzz.
Huckleberries grow trail-side in the summertime
and during winter you can pluck wild teaberries.
Just remember to bring snacks and plenty of water: hiking the Golden Eagle is no Sunday stroll.
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Orange flagging on the Golden Eagle Trail.
Image: Morgan Myers
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Unfortunately, the trail's clean air, rich soil, and clear water might not stay that way for long: the ridge after Beulahland Vista is being evaluated for development. Gas industry flagging marks the area just above the Bonnell Run headwaters.
If you'd like to hike the Golden Eagle before the trail loses its character to industrialization, take Route 414 North past Cammal. If you hit Slate Run you've gone too far. The trail head is clearly marked. Please remember to sign the trail register. For more info and a map, check out the DCNR web page devoted to the Golden Eagle Trail.
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Legislative Lookout:
Senator Yaw Wants Deregulation
RDA note: Embedded below is the Senators' plan to introduce legislation that would "ease the regulatory hurdles required for becoming a public utility." Such a move would enable more operators to exercise eminent domain, a power some landowners claim is already abused. Complicating the issue, Governor Corbett's Energy Executive Patrick Henderson recently released a report stating that "The Public Utility Code should be amended to clarify that the sharing of pipeline capacity, for purposes of increased efficiency and smarter deployment of gathering lines, shall not constitute public utility status." What effect would Yaw's legislation have on the use of eminent domain?
MEMORANDUM
Posted: December 5, 2012 04:33 PM
From: Sen. Gene Yaw & Sen. Dominic Pileggi
To: All Senate members
Subject: Pennsylvania Natural Gas Expansion and Development Initiative
In the near future, we plan to introduce legislation that will facilitate the expansion, distribution and use of low-cost, energy efficient, Pennsylvania-produced natural gas. Being able to fully utilize this commodity will reduce costs and be environmentally beneficial across the Commonwealth. This legislation is designed to assist state and local governments, similar institutions, and un-served and under-served businesses and homeowners across our state in making this conversion.
The legislation will:
- Encourage the conversion of government office buildings to low-cost, energy efficient, Pennsylvania-produced natural gas;
- Offer incentives to school districts, institutions of higher education, correctional institutions, and hospitals to convert to low-cost, energy efficient, Pennsylvania-produced natural gas;
- Encourage the use of natural gas to assure that natural gas energy is accessible to Pennsylvanians;
- Establish funding alternatives for gathering and distribution extensions to un-served and under-served areas;
- Require the Public Utility Commission to develop rules to produce an orderly system for reviewing current levels of natural gas service and to allow for the orderly expansion of natural gas service to areas not currently served;
- Allow municipalities to establish their own pipeline infrastructure;
- Ease the regulatory hurdles required for becoming a public utility;
- Include a system of pipeline tap infrastructure for rural access; and
- Provide rate incentives to state utilities that are aggressively acquiring and building new utility franchises in rural areas.
We have an abundant natural resource beneath us, which can be used to help consumers lower their energy heating costs. There is also widespread interest in seeing locally produced natural gas used locally to benefit every Pennsylvanian.
Requests for a meeting with Mr. Yaw have yet to be acknowledged. If you're concerned about Senator Yaw's pro-gas plan, please contact him at:
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Image: Senate of Pennsylvania
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Gene Yaw
Senate Box 203023
362 Main Capitol
Harrisburg, PA 17120-3023
717-787-3280
gyaw@pasen.gov
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