The Shapiro Administration will adopt an updated Environmental Justice (EJ) Policy, which expands environmental safeguards throughout the Commonwealth, a milestone in updating a 20-year-old policy the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has used to guide protections for communities most vulnerable to environmental challenges. Environmental justice areas make up 20 percent of the entire Commonwealth.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has asked regional power grid operators to enhance the electricity system’s dependability—and he’s got ideas about how to do it. But his premises are flawed, and his suggestions misguided. Shapiro wants reliable power, yet he’s banking on unreliable sources to provide it. That approach isn’t just wrongheaded; it’s a recipe for failure.

A group of 28 House Democrats asked Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Secretary Kimberly Bose to deny a request from the developers of the Mountain Valley Pipeline to extend the project into North Carolina, arguing in a letter this week that its construction would pose serious climate and environmental risks to affected states.

PJM officials recently testified that PJM will not have sufficient power to meet consumer demand if things continue on the current course. PJM said that 20 percent of its existing capacity would retire by 2030. Legislators from both states agreed during the meeting that regulating policies like the multistate Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), overregulation by state agencies, and reliance on renewable energy sources will speed the collapse of the energy grid.

The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed construction to resume on a contested natural-gas pipeline that is being built through Virginia and West Virginia.

A federal court in Richmond has held up construction, despite a law passed by Congress last month that says it no longer has jurisdiction over the pipeline.

The state Senate confirmed Gov. Josh Shapiro’s pick to oversee the commonwealth’s environmental issues on Tuesday. Rich Negrin won wide, bipartisan support in his nomination to be Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection. There were 48 yes votes, one no (from Republican Doug Mastriano of Franklin County) and one senator absent.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) recently posted detailed information about this year’s distribution of impact fees on natural gas producers – totaling $278,881,450.

The economic benefits of the MVP highlight the need to increase the development of natural gas pipelines across the country, providing clean and reliable energy that benefits all Americans. A predictable and efficient permitting process for all pipeline projects would support this expansion.

The White House sees more work to be done on overhauling the federal permitting process after reaching a deal to include permitting changes in legislation to increase the federal debt limit. The deal reached over the weekend by the Biden administration and congressional Republicans includes provisions to speed up energy permitting under the National Environmental Policy Act and to approve the Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline from West Virginia into Virginia. Congressional leaders are now racing to get the debt limit legislation passed this week.