Sean O'Leary

Sean O’Leary, senior researcher, energy and petrochemicals, is a native of Wheeling, WV. He has written about coal, natural gas, and their role in the economies of Appalachia in a book, a newspaper column, and blog titled, “The State of My State”. Previously, Sean served as communications director at the NW Energy Coalition in Seattle, Washington.

All research:

Misleading and Just Plain Wrong

Misleading and Just Plain Wrong

The central claim of the Heritage Foundation's special report that, because of New York’s ban on fracking, counties in the Marcellus region “lost out on around $11,000 per resident or $27,000 per household” is simply wrong. Why? Because . . .    Very little of...

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A Month from Hell

A Month from Hell

Key Points Northern Appalachia has, for a decade and a half, premised its economic development strategies on a strategic triad of natural gas, petrochemicals, and most recently hydrogen. Natural gas expansion has proven itself incapable of delivering on promises of...

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Tipping Point

Tipping Point

Key Takeaways: Carbon capture & sequestration (CCS) is a still unproven and spectacularly expensive decarbonization technology that may have value in industrial sectors that have no other viable decarbonization options. The power generating sector is a very...

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