During a press conference held on Tuesday in Williamsport, Pa., Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-Delaware) and State Senator Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming) announced two bills aimed at fostering the extension and expansion of natural gas distribution systems to unserved and underserved residential, commercial, and industrial sites.

On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology’s Subcommittee on Energy held a hearing on the United States’ federal financial support for the development and production of fuels and energy technologies.

This week will see the end of scheduled House and Senate Appropriations Committee budget hearings for state agencies and the 2013-2014 state budget. After hearing testimony from Departmental executives about needs, services, and the impacts of Governor’s Corbett’s proposed budget, legislative leaders will then begin the real process of working out a deal to pass a Constitutionally mandated balanced budget by the June 30 deadline.

Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale natural-gas production exceeded 2 trillion cubic feet in 2012, twice the level of 2011, according to data collected by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

President Obama and Congress are still trapped in the web they wove  for themselves in 2011 while trying to arrive at a solution to the national debt and deficit explosion.  Republicans and Democrats failed again this week to reach agreement on an alternative to the automatic holds on funding established in that 2011 deal. The full brunt of the $85 billion belt tightening, known in Washington as “sequestration,” will take effect over seven months so it is not clear if there will be an immediate disruption to public services.  The overall cuts scheduled for ten years will be nearly $1 trillion. In most cases, these cuts are actually reductions in planned increases in spending.

The state General Assembly is back and in business for its 2013-2014 session, with full committees now named and operating.  While it’s only January, more than 1,500 bills have already been filed or circulated as co-sponsorship memos, and both House and Senate have released their budget hearing schedules.

The Commonwealth Financing Authority met this week and approved reopening its energy programs for applications beginning immediately.  Scott Dunkelberger, Executive Director of the CFA, told ERG that the program would again begin accepting applications for the Alternative & Clean Energy (ACE) and the High Performance Building Programs.

During his inaugural address, President Barack Obama spoke strongly about the moral imperative of climate change and devoted significant time to the issue.

Tuesday’s swearing-in ceremonies marked the beginning of the 2013-14 legislative session, which is the 197^th Session of the Pennsylvania General Assembly.

A new report by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation shows that the health of the bay slightly improved in 2012. The Bay received an overall score of 32 out of 100, which is one point higher than 2010 and four points higher than 2008.