ORVI Insider #29: Looking Back on 2021

Season’s greetings from the Ohio River Valley Institute! We wish you, your friends, and your family a safe, joyful, and rejuvenating holiday season.

As 2021 winds to an end, we’re looking back with gratitude and excitement at our first full year of operation. We’ve made some notable strides toward our aim of equipping the region’s residents and decision-makers with the policy research and tools they need to bolster community organizing—and to advance long-term solutions to some of Appalachia’s most significant challenges. Check out our recent blog post to learn more about what the Ohio River Valley Institute has accomplished this year.

And don’t miss new research on the looming threat of the Ohio River Valley’s thousands of low-producing oil and gas wells. Because the operators of these “stripper” wells aren’t required to set aside sufficient remediation costs upfront, states and the public could be on the hook for billions in cleanup costs if the companies that own them go out of business, Senior Researcher Ted Boettner explains.

Another new analysis from Executive Director Joanne Kilgour and Research Fellow Eric de Place surveys the host of hydrogen and carbon capture utilization and storage plans and projects taking shape in the Ohio River Valley, concluding that there is good reason to worry both are a costly false promise. Here’s why.

Keep reading for the latest research on energy and economics in the Ohio River Valley. And this holiday season, please consider placing a donation to the Ohio River Valley Institute. Your gift helps us further our mission to realize a cleaner, more sustainable Appalachia where prosperity is shared by all. Thank you for your generosity—click here to donate.

As we reflect on our past year of research, we want to express our thanks to those who have made the work possible and to share with all of you the impact we have been able to make with your support. Over the last twelve months, the Ohio River Valley Institute has:

• Published more than 60 substantive blog posts—a mix of economic analyses, regional jobs and GDP assessments, syntheses of opinion research, legal and electoral analysis, and public testimony;

• Released 15 research briefs and reports, including a bombshell report on the failure of the fracking industry to deliver on its promise of local economic prosperity; 

• Presented our research at congressional hearings and seen our work cited by influential legislators, like Senator Joe Manchin; and

• Been featured in more than 650 news stories, reaching a total online and print audience of nearly 189 million. 

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The Ohio River Valley states of Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania host more than 177,000 wells that are technically producing oil or gas, but only in small amounts. Many of these so-called “stripper” wells are near the end of their economic lifespan but have been kept alive, sometimes for many years, at very low production levels to avoid clean-up costs. The problem? Because well operators aren’t required to provide sufficient remediation costs up front, states and the public could be on the hook for billions of dollars worth of well cleanup.

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The Biden administration’s infrastructure bill authorizes billions of dollars in new federal spending to support the development of hydrogen and carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) across the country. It’s likely that Appalachia will play an outsized role in the development of these technologies—but research shows that, unless hydrogen and CCUS are constrained to a narrow range of applications, they will come at the expense of cheaper and more reliable climate solutions, while extending the lifespan of polluting industries like coal and fracking for natural gas.

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