BUNKERVILLE | God, Guns and Guts Comrades!

First let’s acknowledge that the Federal Government owns two-thirds of the Western States. This does not account for what the State and Local governments own.

Now moving East, we have a couple more States of considerable acreage of government land. This acknowledgement before we get to the latest insult a few judges have visited upon us.

The XL Pipeline is stalled in its tracks. First insult-

A refresher:

Nov 9, 2018 – A U.S. district judge has issued an order blocking construction of the controversial transnational Keystone XL Pipeline until the State Department conducts further study of its impact on the environment.

More at NPR

Recall that last winter the Boston area had to count on Russia for its Natural gas. Yes, that big bad Russia Russia Russia. Meanwhile we are awash in Nat gas. That story later on. But here it the latest in turning us into a “Hunter-Gatherer” society soon to forage for heat and food.

Appeals court rules the Forest Service to ‘speak for the trees’

A federal appeals court cited Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax to slam the U.S. Forest Service for granting a private company a permit to build a natural gas pipeline across two national forests and the Appalachian Trail.

“We trust the United States Forest Service to ‘speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.'”

— The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, VA., said in a ruling on Thursday that the U.S. Forest Service “abdicated its responsibility to preserve national forest resources” when it granted the permit for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline to Dominion Energy, the pipeline’s lead developer, NPR reported.

“We trust the United States Forest Service to ‘speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues,’” the three-judge panel said in the ruling, quoting the classic story.

The court decided that the Forest Service did not have the authority to grant the permits to build a pipeline that would originate in West Virginia and stretch across Virginia and North Carolina.

The pipeline plans caused uproar among environmental groups as parts of it would have to be built through the George Washington and Monongahela National Forests and across the Appalachian Trail, the NPR reported.

“This conclusion is particularly informed by the Forest Service’s serious environmental concerns that were suddenly, and mysteriously, assuaged in time to meet a private pipeline company’s deadlines,” the judges said.[…]

Dominion Energy said they will appeal the decision in a statement to NPR.

“If allowed to stand, this decision will severely harm consumers and do great damage to our economy and energy security,” said Aaron Ruby, a spokesman for Dominion Energy.

“Public utilities are depending on this infrastructure to meet the basic energy needs of millions of people and businesses in our region.”

Keep reading…

Let’s return to this absurdity.

Russian Nat Gas has to be imported to New England but let’s get on Merkel

July 16, 2018 – portion of a previous post:

Better yet, the Jones Act precludes Americans helping out other Americans:

The U.S. has several LNG export facilities that are already operational or will come online in the coming years. Why can’t we ship American LNG to Boston?

One reason is an antiquated federal law from 1920 – the Jones Act – that prohibits cargoes from being transported between U.S. ports unless they are carried on American-flagged ships.

The stupid thing:

There are about 150,000 miles of oil pipelines and more than 1.5 million miles of natural gas pipelines in theUnited States. ALREADY! 

The U.S. Energy Information Administration recently announced that in 2017, for the first time since 1957, the U.S. exported more natural gas than it imported.

Yet, even as we become a global energy superpower, political barriers prevent us from maximizing the benefits of the shale revolution.

Earlier this year, New England — located just a few hundred miles from the Marcellus Shale, one of the world’s largest natural gas fields — was forced to import a cargo of Russian liquefied natural gas. This was necessary because anti-energy activists have convinced local elected leaders to block new energy infrastructure, including pipelines that could bring American gas to the region. This is making households in the Northeast more dependent on imported energy, and forcing them to pay among the highest energy bills in the country. More at Washington Examiner

Here are a couple of sites where one can find out pipeline locations down to the county.

Pipeline101 – Where-Are-Pipelines-Located

Interactive map of pipelines in the United States | American …