Despite Republican calls for higher gas production, IFO figures show it actually increased by 6.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared with a year earlier, suggesting more downward pressure on prices.
Colorado have attempted to provide buffer zones for drilling.
Michanowicz said increasing the setback rule in Pennsylvania would not have much effect if the law’s exemptions remain intact.
“It’s probably a different set of policy tools if your goal is to protect public health and safety,” he said. That could include placing additional emissions controls on wells built within the 500-foot zone, or forcing companies to perform “alternate site analysis” where they would need to show why placing a well within the 500-foot zone is necessary.
Michael McCawley, clinical associate professor of occupational and environmental health sciences at West Virginia University, said in an email that the study showed the exemption for existing well pads in Act 13 “seems to nullify the effect” of the law. “It appears that Act 13 has so far, since its promulgation in 2012, not significantly changed the rate at which 500-foot setbacks from unconventional natural gas wells are built,�
Fighting climate change, planting more trees and funding environmental progress in tight times will be among the challenges confronting state lawmakers in Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania when they gather in January in their respective capitals.
The 2021 legislative sessions will open as last yearâs ended, under the shadow of a coronavirus pandemic that eviscerated state budgets â and even sent Maryland lawmakers home early with many bills still awaiting action.
Tree plantings and stormwater conveyance systems are part of a broad-based partnership effort to establish and connect greenways and blueways in Virginia s Appomattox River corridor. Pictured here is a tree planting at Riverside Park Greenway in Hopewell. Efforts are underway in both Maryland and Virginia to increase tree plantings, especially in underserved areas.
Rachel McDevitt / StateImpact Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania’s goals for utilities to buy increased amounts of power from alternative sources, such as wind and solar, are set to flatline in 2021 unless the General Assembly acts.
Advocates for raising the standards say it will create jobs and help address climate change.
Pennsylvania’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act of 2004 set a series of targets for electricity generated by a range of sources, from solar to waste coal. Utilities are on track to meet the 2021 goal of 18 percent with 8 percent coming from renewables.
Renewables Work for PA, a coalition of clean energy companies, wants to see the bar raised to 18 percent renewables by 2025.