What two (or more) quotes capture the message of the article?
"Gargantuan processing facilities, built with billions of dollars of global capital, will rise like steel stalagmites along the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers. New factories — lured by the abundant low-cost energy the pipelines provide — will hire thousands of working-class residents to make plastic, steel, cement and countless consumer goods. Air pollution will increase, but so will the local GDP, as energy traders and executives fill up downtown office buildings."
"Most Philadelphians, I think, have made peace with the notion that big industry is a part of the city’s past. Philadelphia’s identity today is built on intellect rather than manufacturing, on haute cuisine instead of heavy industry.
Rinaldi flatly rejects that."
"For Rinaldi’s vision to have an honest chance of becoming reality, the region needs at least two more pipelines. One is already under construction, a project dubbed Mariner East. Sunoco Logistics is repurposing an 83-year-old petroleum pipeline that, when finished, will pump 70,000 barrels per day of natural-gas liquids like propane and ethane — which is a crucial building block for the petrochemical industry — from Marcellus Shale fields in Southwest Pennsylvania to a Sunoco site in Marcus Hook.
The second pipeline — the one Rinaldi champions — would be different. Instead of natural-gas liquids, it would transport dry natural gas, the stuff that fires domestic water heaters and, on a far more massive scale, co-generation facilities that can power energy hogs like data centers and steel factories. His pipeline would be huge — as big as 42 inches in diameter, which is as wide as gas pipelines get. If built, it could triple the flow of gas into the city, industry insiders say."
"if the goal is economic development and job creation, collecting methane and moving it around doesn’t accomplish all that much. True, there are a lot of construction jobs in building a pipeline. But those are temporary gigs, with little lasting economic impact. Big energy facilities, like a refinery or power plant, can cost billions to erect but typically employ well under 1,000 workers."
"Right now, Pennsylvania is the Angola of the American energy economy — a province exploited for its rich natural resources while the real money gets made where the pipelines converge along the Gulf Coast. To change that anemic economic-development dynamic, Pennsylvania must lure companies to the state who can do more with the molecules than stuff them in a pipeline. "
What is the main point of the article, and how is it supported?
Pipelines run from Philadelphia to Louisiana before being used in Philadelphia (Henry Hub).
The Marcellus Shale promotes energy independence of America.
Refineries or power plants create many temporary jobs for construction but only about 1,000 or less employees.
Making 2 new pipelines (described above) would attract companies that need massive amounts of cheap oil to run their processes.
Pipelines would make it more possible to make better use of Marcellus gas without transporting it across the country.
Investors hopping on Philadelphia Gas Works because they have faith in developing the energy hub.
"Is this what we want?"
Derailing oil trains in Philadelphia
Refinery emissions
Fossil fuel production continuation
73% of toxins in Philadelphia's air come from the South Philadelphia Refinery (31% of the 5 county region's toxins)
Petrochemical industry's dirty processes
PES CEO says that these hazards are innate to the energy field, and can be "managed"
The author of the article fears the pipelines will be established, but will not produce the full-scale "manufacturing boom," and instead will produces lots of oil and refined products that will be sent out to far away manufacturing locations.
Philadelphia would take the environmental hit but receive very little economic reward.
What actors (individuals or organizations) are referred to? (Provide names and short descriptions.)
Henry Hub
AGL Resources: natural gas company, drilled into a mine, formed a new lake a swallowed barges, used the unflooded for storage
what Philadelphia could become, literally driven by (production of) natural gas
Phil Rinaldi
CEO of South Philadelphia's Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES), which runs the refinery in South Philadelphia.
The refinery produces "6.7 million gallons of gasoline a day, plus heating oil, jet fuel, and an array of other petroleum products"
Rinaldi revived the refinery when Sunoco was going to cease its production. "He is a classic industrialist, the kind of guy who drags a city along with him, ready or not, like some tycoon of old." Started an 'energy action team' in Philadelphia to bolster the fight for the energy hub.
Argues that the infrastructure of Philadelphia was "made for" industrial work (large factories remain from the city's origin, port, freight system) and the city government is catching on to the economic interest of the idea of re-industrialization.
"Build [the pipeline] and they will come"
Mihoko Manabe
Works as an energy analyst at Moody's Investor Service
Doesn't believe in Rinaldi's philosophy of "Built it and they will come"
Braskem
Petrochemical company based in Brazil
An example of how to use natural gas to create jobs and economic growth (without transporting back and forth from Louisiana): "At its facility in Marcus Hook, Braskem uses a chemical called propylene (which is made from petroleum) to make plastic resins that end up in countless consumer products, from Tupperware to carpeting."
Make use of nearby Marcellus gas.
Boris Brevnov
Runs Liberty Energy Trust, which wants to buy Philadelphia Gas Works
Thinks this energy hub is a "huge opportunity," needs good public policy and a lot of money to invest, but is a promising investment.
What kind of causation or responsibility is argued or implied in the article?
The opportunity that the nearby Marcellus Shale brings to the Philadelphia economy is the causation for the arguments presented in the news article.
How (if at all) are health disparities or other equity issues addressed in the article or report?
There is describe disparity between workers in the Philadelphia oil world. Of the employees at the Philadelphia refinery, 85% do not live in Philadelphia, 95% are men, and a "large majority" is white. Who would be affected by the energy hub prosperity would be affected by this inequity.
What three points, details or references from the article did you follow up on to advance your understanding of the issued and actors described in the article?
40,000 people lost jobs when the Philadelphia Naval Yard was closed.
Supports establishing the Marcus Hook Industrial Complex of the Mariner East pipeline.
"With this investment, the Delaware River could become the new hub for the Northeastern United States as a source of clean, abundant, affordable energy."
Also talks of manufacturing boom
Pennsylvania Energy Infrastructure Alliance: supports pipeline development
Jobs, jobs, jobs. No talk about environmental or other impacts.
Huge disparity in reactions (visible from article titles, can be future annotations):
Does the article provide information or perspective on any of the thematics already identified as important for the 6Cities project?
Scientific capacity to link air pollution to economic impacts has also grown dramatically.
An opposite link can be made based on this article. The economic benefits to developing Philadelphia as an energy hub include establishment of an industrial and manufacturing presence in the city. The increase in petrochemical activity would produce more toxins. Enlargement of the South Philadelphia Refinery would maximize its present damage to the air quality of Philadelphia.
Across sites, there is growing recognition of a need to improve understanding of air pollution, health impacts, and mitigation opportunities at the neighborhood level.
There continues to be considerable distance between air quality sciences and health sciences, and between government agencies responsible for environment, health, transportation, education, and other elements of the air pollution calculus. Stakeholders often refer to the problem as one of “stove-pipes” and “research silos.”
There is often a distance between environmental and economic views in political issues, which are both important at the neighborhood level. The establishment of the Mariner East Pipeline could have both a negative environmental impact, and a positive economic impact. Health and job availability directly affect the residents of Philadelphia, creating complexity in the argument, however the interest of the governance often favors only one of the two. Establishment of Philadelphia as an energy hub would prioritize the economic prosperity over the health of its people.
There is a growing need for capacity to characterize pollutants from distant (sometimes international) sources; enhanced capacity for this will in turn create complex transboundary governance challenges.
The article addresses the transportation of drilled oil from the Marcellus shale through the pipeline to Louisiana and via freight train as an environmentally risky procedure. The transport affects not only the people of Philadelphia but all other regions that it passes through.
Patrick Kerkstra, "Philadelphia + Pipeline (or Two) = America's Next Energy Hub," Philadelphia Magazine, September 29, 2014. Accessed October 1, 2015, http://www.phillymag.com/articles/philadelphia-pipeline-americas-next-energy-hub/.
What two (or more) quotes capture the message of the article?
- "Gargantuan processing facilities, built with billions of dollars of global capital, will rise like steel stalagmites along the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers. New factories — lured by the abundant low-cost energy the pipelines provide — will hire thousands of working-class residents to make plastic, steel, cement and countless consumer goods. Air pollution will increase, but so will the local GDP, as energy traders and executives fill up downtown office buildings."
- "Most Philadelphians, I think, have made peace with the notion that big industry is a part of the city’s past. Philadelphia’s identity today is built on intellect rather than manufacturing, on haute cuisine instead of heavy industry.
- "For Rinaldi’s vision to have an honest chance of becoming reality, the region needs at least two more pipelines. One is already under construction, a project dubbed Mariner East. Sunoco Logistics is repurposing an 83-year-old petroleum pipeline that, when finished, will pump 70,000 barrels per day of natural-gas liquids like propane and ethane — which is a crucial building block for the petrochemical industry — from Marcellus Shale fields in Southwest Pennsylvania to a Sunoco site in Marcus Hook.
- "if the goal is economic development and job creation, collecting methane and moving it around doesn’t accomplish all that much. True, there are a lot of construction jobs in building a pipeline. But those are temporary gigs, with little lasting economic impact. Big energy facilities, like a refinery or power plant, can cost billions to erect but typically employ well under 1,000 workers."
- "Right now, Pennsylvania is the Angola of the American energy economy — a province exploited for its rich natural resources while the real money gets made where the pipelines converge along the Gulf Coast. To change that anemic economic-development dynamic, Pennsylvania must lure companies to the state who can do more with the molecules than stuff them in a pipeline. "
What is the main point of the article, and how is it supported?Rinaldi flatly rejects that."
The second pipeline — the one Rinaldi champions — would be different. Instead of natural-gas liquids, it would transport dry natural gas, the stuff that fires domestic water heaters and, on a far more massive scale, co-generation facilities that can power energy hogs like data centers and steel factories. His pipeline would be huge — as big as 42 inches in diameter, which is as wide as gas pipelines get. If built, it could triple the flow of gas into the city, industry insiders say."
- Pipelines run from Philadelphia to Louisiana before being used in Philadelphia (Henry Hub).
- The Marcellus Shale promotes energy independence of America.
- Refineries or power plants create many temporary jobs for construction but only about 1,000 or less employees.
- Making 2 new pipelines (described above) would attract companies that need massive amounts of cheap oil to run their processes.
- Pipelines would make it more possible to make better use of Marcellus gas without transporting it across the country.
- Investors hopping on Philadelphia Gas Works because they have faith in developing the energy hub.
- "Is this what we want?"
- Derailing oil trains in Philadelphia
- Refinery emissions
- Fossil fuel production continuation
- 73% of toxins in Philadelphia's air come from the South Philadelphia Refinery (31% of the 5 county region's toxins)
- Petrochemical industry's dirty processes
- PES CEO says that these hazards are innate to the energy field, and can be "managed"
- The author of the article fears the pipelines will be established, but will not produce the full-scale "manufacturing boom," and instead will produces lots of oil and refined products that will be sent out to far away manufacturing locations.
- Philadelphia would take the environmental hit but receive very little economic reward.
What actors (individuals or organizations) are referred to? (Provide names and short descriptions.)- Henry Hub
- AGL Resources: natural gas company, drilled into a mine, formed a new lake a swallowed barges, used the unflooded for storage
- what Philadelphia could become, literally driven by (production of) natural gas
- Phil Rinaldi
- CEO of South Philadelphia's Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES), which runs the refinery in South Philadelphia.
- The refinery produces "6.7 million gallons of gasoline a day, plus heating oil, jet fuel, and an array of other petroleum products"
- Rinaldi revived the refinery when Sunoco was going to cease its production. "He is a classic industrialist, the kind of guy who drags a city along with him, ready or not, like some tycoon of old." Started an 'energy action team' in Philadelphia to bolster the fight for the energy hub.
- Argues that the infrastructure of Philadelphia was "made for" industrial work (large factories remain from the city's origin, port, freight system) and the city government is catching on to the economic interest of the idea of re-industrialization.
- "Build [the pipeline] and they will come"
- Mihoko Manabe
- Works as an energy analyst at Moody's Investor Service
- Doesn't believe in Rinaldi's philosophy of "Built it and they will come"
- Braskem
- Petrochemical company based in Brazil
- An example of how to use natural gas to create jobs and economic growth (without transporting back and forth from Louisiana): "At its facility in Marcus Hook, Braskem uses a chemical called propylene (which is made from petroleum) to make plastic resins that end up in countless consumer products, from Tupperware to carpeting."
- Make use of nearby Marcellus gas.
- Boris Brevnov
- Runs Liberty Energy Trust, which wants to buy Philadelphia Gas Works
- Thinks this energy hub is a "huge opportunity," needs good public policy and a lot of money to invest, but is a promising investment.
What kind of causation or responsibility is argued or implied in the article?- The opportunity that the nearby Marcellus Shale brings to the Philadelphia economy is the causation for the arguments presented in the news article.
How (if at all) are health disparities or other equity issues addressed in the article or report?- There is describe disparity between workers in the Philadelphia oil world. Of the employees at the Philadelphia refinery, 85% do not live in Philadelphia, 95% are men, and a "large majority" is white. Who would be affected by the energy hub prosperity would be affected by this inequity.
What three points, details or references from the article did you follow up on to advance your understanding of the issued and actors described in the article?Does the article provide information or perspective on any of the thematics already identified as important for the 6Cities project?