Tag: Pennsylvania

Experts Weigh In On Permitting Suspension For Liquefied Natural Gas, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, a recent decision by the Biden administration to suspend permitting for new export terminals for liquefied natural gas (LNG) has drawn criticism from West Virginia lawmakers. To hear what impact the decision has on United States LNG exports, Curtis Tate spoke with Sam Reynolds and Ana Maria Jaller-Markarewicz of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.

On this West Virginia Morning, a recent decision by the Biden administration to suspend permitting for new export terminals for liquefied natural gas (LNG) has drawn criticism from West Virginia lawmakers. To hear what impact the decision has on United States LNG exports, Curtis Tate spoke with Sam Reynolds and Ana Maria Jaller-Markarewicz of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.

Also, in this show, the U.S. has seen a huge buildout in plants using fossil fuels to make plastics over the last decade. A new report finds those plants routinely break environmental laws, even though they receive major subsidies from taxpayers. The Allegheny Front’s Reid Frazier reports Shell’s ethane cracker in Beaver County, Pennsylvania was given over $1 billion in tax breaks yet violated its air pollution permit even before opening.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University.

Eric Douglas is our news director and producer.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

EPA Rule On Carbon Emissions Won’t Apply To Existing Gas Plants

The rule, expected in April, would still apply to existing coal and new gas plants. The agency will pursue a separate rule for existing gas plants after the November election.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has scaled back its proposal to limit carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.

The EPA said Thursday that existing gas-fired power plants would be exempt from its pending rule limiting greenhouse gas emissions.

The rule, expected in April, would still apply to existing coal and new gas plants. The agency will pursue a separate rule for existing gas plants after the November election.

“As EPA works towards final standards to cut climate pollution from existing coal and new gas-fired power plants later this spring, the agency is taking a new, comprehensive approach to cover the entire fleet of natural gas-fired turbines,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement.

The change won’t have much effect in West Virginia. The state relies on coal for 89 percent of its electricity, and only 4 percent comes from gas.

Neighboring states – particularly Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia – receive more than 50 percent of their electricity from gas.

“This is a welcome step that will protect Ohio jobs and help keep electricity costs from rising for Ohio families,” said U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. “I encourage the administration to keep working with stakeholders – including labor and manufacturers – as they finalize this rule and work to build a clean energy future.”

Coal plants will still be required to capture 90 percent of their carbon emissions, transition to gas or hydrogen, or shut down.

U.S. Rep. Carol Miller, R-West Virginia, wants the EPA to scrap the rule entirely.

“This new guidance from the EPA is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to destroy the coal industry,” she said. “The EPA continues to create uncertainty with flawed rule making, resulting in unstable markets and higher energy costs for all Americans.”

Mushroom Growers And The Latest On Charleston’s Gas Outage, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, Pennsylvania is the biggest producer of mushrooms in the United States; followed by California. Foragers and foraging clubs find the fungus in the wild, while small farms are growing unique mushrooms to meet demand. Kat Bolus from WVIA brings us this story.

On this West Virginia Morning, Pennsylvania is the biggest producer of mushrooms in the United States; followed by California. Foragers and foraging clubs find the fungus in the wild, while small farms are growing unique mushrooms to meet demand. Kat Bolus from WVIA brings us this story.

Also, in this show, the president of West Virginia American Water cast doubt Monday on whether his company was responsible for a gas outage in Charleston last month. Curtis Tate has more.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University.

Caroline MacGregor is our assistant news director and produced this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

West Virginia Part Of Nearly $1 Billion Regional Hydrogen Hub

President Joe Biden is set to announce the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub later Friday. The hub, also called ARCH2, will include Ohio and Pennsylvania. 

West Virginia is among the states receiving funds from the U.S. Department of Energy to create a regional hydrogen hub.

President Joe Biden is set to announce the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub later Friday. The hub, also called ARCH2, will include Ohio and Pennsylvania. 

The region will be eligible for as much as $925 million of the $7 billion in total going to seven regional hubs across the country.

The White House projects 18,000 construction jobs and 3,000 permanent jobs resulting from the investment in the Appalachian hub.

Other hubs will be established in the mid-Atlantic, California, the Gulf Coast, the Upper Midwest, the Great Lakes and the Pacific Northwest.

The Appalachian hub will lean on the region’s abundant supply of natural gas to make hydrogen. Of the other hubs, only the Gulf Coast will also use natural gas, called blue hydrogen. 

Most of the others will use renewable energy, including wind, solar and hydro, known as green hydrogen.

The Great Lakes hub will use nuclear power, known as pink hydrogen. 

Appalachia’s hub will store the carbon dioxide generated from the production process.

The seven hubs are expected to generate three million metric tons of hydrogen annually, which will be used to decarbonize industrial sectors that produce 30 percent of U.S. carbon emissions.

The initiative is projected to cut 25 million metric tons of CO2 each year, part of the Biden administration’s larger goal of cutting emissions to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement.

“With this historic investment,” said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in a statement, “the Biden-Harris administration is laying the foundation for a new, American-led industry that will propel the global clean energy transition while creating high quality jobs and delivering healthier communities in every pocket of the nation.”

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito noted that funding for the hydrogen hubs came from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. Capito participated in the negotiation of that legislation and was key to its Senate passage.

“I consistently supported efforts to help make this project a reality,” she said in a statement. “I’m thrilled for the ARCH2 Team, and am so proud West Virginia will continue its tradition as an innovative, energy-producing state through a regional hydrogen hub.”

Changes At WVU And A Discussion About Distrust On This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, students at West Virginia University will begin to see changes this week following the decision Friday by university officials to eliminate 28 majors and more than 140 faculty positions.

On this West Virginia Morning, students at West Virginia University (WVU) will begin to see changes this week following the decision Friday by university officials to eliminate 28 majors and more than 140 faculty positions. We have the latest.

Also, in this show, the Allegheny Front, a public radio program based in Pittsburgh that reports on environmental issues in the region, shares their latest story about an updated book about the Youghiogheny River that starts in West Virginia and heads north through Pennsylvania.

And, distrust in our institutions, organizations and even in each other has reached new highs. Some people refuse to believe the science behind vaccinations or fact-based reporting on political elections. Coming up later this week, Us & Them host Trey Kay moderates an evening of conversation about our lack of trust. One of his guests is Raney Aronson-Rath. She’s editor in chief of the PBS investigative journalism series Frontline. 

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Concord University and Shepherd University.

Caroline MacGregor is our assistant news director and produced this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

Report: Predicted Ohio Valley Petrochemical Hub Never Materialized

Proposals to build two ethane cracker plants – one in Wood County, West Virginia, and another in Belmont County, Ohio – have fizzled.

A petrochemical manufacturing hub predicted six years ago in the mid-Ohio Valley didn’t materialize.

Proposals to build two ethane cracker plants – one in Wood County, West Virginia, and another in Belmont County, Ohio – have fizzled.

Cracker plants produce the building blocks of plastic products. In 2017, the chemical industry and the Trump administration predicted that the Ohio Valley, with its proximity to shale gas reserves, would become a hub for that process.

But according to a new report from the Ohio River Valley Institute, that hub never happened, nor did the 100,000 jobs it promised for the region.

Only one plant was built by Shell in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. It employs 400 to 600 people.

According to the report, competition from China and a build-out of petrochemical manufacturing on the Gulf Coast discouraged investment in the Ohio Valley hub.

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