NEW REPORT: Future Appalachian Shale Gas Drilling Unprofitable and Petrochemical Buildout Unlikely
JOHNSTOWN, Pennsylvania, March 23, 2021 – New gas field developments in Appalachia are unlikely to be profitable as the US energy system undergoes rapid decarbonization, according to a new report from the Stockholm Environment Institute’s US Center (SEI) and the Ohio River Valley Institute. Rosy industry projections of a gas-fueled petrochemical buildout led many Appalachian […]
Risks for New Natural Gas Development in Appalachia
Higher prices are needed to save Appalachian natural gas, but the industry faces pressure from decarbonization and uncertain petrochemical markets.
The Failure of Fossil Fuel Subsidies in Pennsylvania
$3.8 billion is enough money to run the entire economy of a small country. But it’s just barely enough to cover the cost of Pennsylvania’s annual subsidies to the fossil fuel industry. Those subsidies are described in painstaking detail in an excellent new analysis by PennFuture, “Buried Out of Sight.” Researchers at PennFuture were able […]
Railroaded By the Gas Industry
Before you get behind the wheel of a car, you’re required to have auto insurance. It costs a few bucks, especially for bad drivers, but everyone understands that insurance is a commonsense way to protect the public from the costs of accidents. It’s too bad railroads don’t have to play by the same rules. Even […]
Biden’s First Fracking Test: LNG Trains
Biden’s first fracking test. That’s what the Wall Street Journal editorial board calls the incoming administration’s decision about a port project on the Delaware River. Yet the decision is not about fracking at all. At least not directly. It is, rather, about whether to approve a port facility in New Jersey that would handle mile-long […]
Plastic Market Trends Are Bad News for Appalachia Cracker Plans
The Ohio Valley petrochemical buildout is in big trouble. You know it when you hear things like this: “The Zeitgeist has shifted, and this is a permanent shift.” Those are not the words of an anti-fracking activist or an ocean conversation group. That’s the petrochemical industry talking. More precisely, it is ICIS analyst John Richardson […]
Fracking is Not Popular in Pennsylvania
Public opinion research–and now actual election results–give lie to the myth: fracking simply is not popular, not nationally and not in Pennsylvania.
New Rule Allows Explosive Liquefied Natural Gas on Rail Lines Near You
October 22, 1944 was an ordinary Friday in Cleveland until 2:40 in the afternoon. That’s when liquefied natural gas (LNG) that had quietly seeped from a storage tank into the city’s sewer lines exploded with staggering force. The blast sent steel manhole covers rocketing into the air—at least one was launched several miles into another […]
Pennsylvania Families Pay More for Natural Gas Than Most Americans
A decade-long fracking boom in the Keystone State, but local families pay more for electricity and more to heat their homes with gas than the national average.
Public Opinion is Moving Against Natural Gas and Fracking
Contrary to unsupported assertions from industry boosters, public opinion is trending strongly against the gas industry.