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:

The Tri-State CCS Hub and The Return of The Bad Deal

The Tri-State CCS Hub and The Return of The Bad Deal

Do you know a bad deal when you see it? Possibly not, if the deal has to do with something as arcane as leasing underground pore space to an oil and gas company that wants to dispose of carbon dioxide. But that’s the kind of deal property owners and elected officials...

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Hint: To do it really stupidly, you need HYDROGEN!

Hint: To do it really stupidly, you need HYDROGEN!

  via GIPHY OK, in fairness to everyone who has ever built a hamster wheel to generate electricity, it probably wasn’t about the electricity. It may have been about the merit badge, or your science grade, or just to satisfy your curiosity. But it almost certainly...

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Inflation & Natural Gas: A Disease and its Carrier

Inflation & Natural Gas: A Disease and its Carrier

  Natural gas enters your home through your furnace, your appliances, and even through the electricity you use, much of which comes from gas-fired power plants. And that’s a problem because, not only is gas bad for your physical health (more on that later), it’s...

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“Absurd, You Say?”

“Absurd, You Say?”

  The recently signed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) offers coal and gas-fired power plants as well as factories and other carbon-emitting facilities a tax credit that will pay them $85 for every metric ton of carbon they capture and sequester underground. The...

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