Russia war makes for fossil fuel push
With Russian forces continuing their bloody Ukraine invasion and with economic sanctions piling up, more Pennsylvania lawmakers are seizing the opportunity to call for a fossil-fuel renaissance in the commonwealth.
Last week, the Political Notebook cited the call from U.S. Rep. Fred Keller, R-12th District, for the U.S. to “supply energy to our European allies” – a policy that could be a boon to Pennsylvania’s drilling and fracking businesses. Since then, similar proposals have multiplied in Harrisburg.
On Tuesday, Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Butler, said he plans to introduce a resolution calling for a nationwide ban on Russian oil and natural gas. Russia supplies a tiny percentage of oil used in the U.S., but its natural gas exports power and heat much of Europe.
“Pennsylvania’s oil and gas industries are ready, willing, and able to begin producing more if policies are put in place to allow our resources to be easily transported throughout the country and around the globe to our allies,” Metcalfe said.
Global crude oil prices have surged since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion, triggering a wave of economic sanctions and throwing uncertainty into the global economy.
Pennsylvania produces more natural gas than almost any other state – well over 7 trillion cubic feet in 2020 and more in 2021, according to industry reports and NPR’s StateImpact project. That has prompted some lawmakers to explicitly call for more production, despite environmental concerns and regulatory clashes with Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf.
Rep. Seth Grove, R-York, said he’ll propose an “End Russian Aggression Act.”
While the name suggests a bill directly targeting the Russian government, Grove said his bill will ramp up drilling, fund gas pipelines and pull Pennsylvania out of a regional initiative intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Grove said the bill, which hadn’t been formally submitted as of Wednesday, would “unleash Pennsylvania’s energy power to reduce the reliance on Russian natural gas.”
Some lawmakers are targeting environmental challenges to the fossil fuel industry by tying opposition to the Russian leader. One state legislator, Rep. Stan Saylor, R-York, explicitly called U.S. pipeline bans “pro-Putin” in a memo to colleagues this week.
Saylor said he wants New York and New Jersey to rescind policies restricting new natural gas pipelines – policies that keep Pennsylvania gas from flowing to homes in New England and the populous East Coast.
“Pennsylvania is the second-largest natural gas producing state in the nation and stands ready to meet the demands of consumers in New England and elsewhere,” Saylor said.
While the U.S. consumes a small amount of Russian oil, little or no natural gas is imported from Russia, according to the Energy Information Administration.
That hasn’t stopped state legislators from demanding a resumption of stalled or canceled fossil fuel projects. Last week, Sen. Wayne Langerholc, R-Cambria, Sen. Joe Pittman, R-Armstrong, and Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Lycoming, said they would call for President Joe Biden to reestablish the defunct Keystone XL pipeline.
Given the interest in Harrisburg, it may be little surprise that GOP representatives in Washington have joined the push for more fossil fuels. A new U.S. House bill calling for increased energy production has already drawn Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-14th District, Rep. Daniel Meuser, R-9th District, and Rep. John Joyce, R-13th District, as cosponsors.
Rep. seeks trans care bill
At least one state lawmaker is working to pass a law that would protect parents’ and caregivers’ rights to provide health care in line with children’s gender identities. It’s an implicit swipe at states like Texas, where officials are investigating parents who provide certain types of care.
Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny, said this week that he’ll submit legislation to “ensure that parents and other guardians cannot be investigated or punished for obtaining evidence-based, patient-appropriate care for their children.”
The move follows a much-publicized Texas policy that empowers officials to investigate the parents of transgender children for child abuse. Gov. Greg Abbott issued the order after an earlier opinion by state attorney general Ken Paxton, prompting protest from parents who said they faced criminal cases for providing recommended medical care.
Under the Texas order, parents who provide teenagers medically accepted treatments for gender dysphoria, like puberty-blocking hormones – what experts and advocates call gender-affirming care – face investigation. Parents have already sued to stop the policy, launching a battle in the courts.
In a memo to Pennsylvania lawmakers, Frankel said every prominent medical association supports his cause.
“Study after study has shown that due to heightened risks of suicide and self-harm, forgoing gender-affirming care can have tragic consequences,” he said.
Ryan Brown covers statewide politics for Ogden Newspapers. He can be reached at rbrown@altoonamirror.com.