Ben Hunkler
Ben comes to ORVI from community advocacy work in the Ohio River Valley. He offers communications and design support for report releases, social media content, and the ORVI Insider.
All research:
ORVI Insider #21: New Poll Shows PA Voters Want a Crackdown on Fracking
The latest news, research, and analysis from the Ohio River Valley Institute. July 29, 2021 By wide margins, Pennsylvania voters support a major crackdown on fracking. That's according to a striking new poll...
New Reports Sketch a Blueprint for Job Growth and Economic Development in Distressed Appalachian Communities
There are many parallels between economically struggling communities in Appalachia and Centralia, Washington, a chronically depressed coal town that lost its coal mine and is now losing its coal-fired power plant. But in Centralia, the economy, jobs and population are...
ORVI Insider #20: A Model for Economic Development in Appalachia
The latest news, research, and analysis from the Ohio River Valley Institute. July 20, 2021 A groundbreaking set of new reports from the Ohio River Valley Institute explain why natural gas development failed to...
New Report Demonstrates How RGGI Could Fund Opportunities for Pennsylvania Coal Plant Communities
The Ohio River Valley Institute’s newest report examines how the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) could support economic development and job creation in Pennsylvania, particularly in coal communities most impacted by energy market transition from coal to...
ORVI Insider #19: RGGI Revenue Could Help Ease the Energy Transition in PA
The latest news, research, and analysis from the Ohio River Valley Institute. June 30, 2021 A new report from the Ohio River Valley Institute outlines the economic opportunities of the Regional Greenhouse Gas...
Joe Manchin Cites ORVI Report in Senate Hearing on Abandoned Mine Land Damage
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) pointed to a recent Ohio River Valley Institute report in a Senate committee last week on the huge economic opportunities of abandoned coal mine reclamation. “The Department of the Interior estimates the cost to complete [abandoned mine...
ORVI Insider #18: What’s the Future of the Ohio River?
ORVI Insider Vol. 18 June 15, 2021 What will our Ohio River look like in 10 years? To see the future of the Ohio Valley, ORVI Research Fellow Eric de Place writes, look to a place that is almost its antipode: the tropical...
ORVI Insider #17: Could a Former Coal Town in Washington Provide a Model for Appalachia’s Energy Transition?
ORVI Insider Vol. 17 May 25, 2021 Could a former coal town in Washington State provide a model for Appalachia's energy transition? In 2011, Centralia, Washington was struggling to deal with a shuttered coal mine, the looming...