by Nick Messenger | Feb 23, 2023 | Blog Posts
Information contained within this post is current as of its publication on February 23, 2023. Due to the fluid nature of the situation and the continuing release of new information, future updates will be regularly added and specified at the end of the...
by Rebecca Shelton and Eric Dixon | Feb 19, 2023 | Abandoned Mine Lands, Blog Posts
In a new report from the Ohio River Valley Institute and Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center, we estimate it will cost $450 to 950 million to rebuild homes affected by the flood, depending on how many homes are relocated to less flood-prone areas. Our report finds...
by Ben Hunkler | Feb 16, 2023 | Blog Posts, Petrochemicals & Plastics
On Friday, February 3, a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous petrochemicals derailed near East Palestine, Ohio, sparking what may be one of the worst environmental disasters in US history. Thousands of fish have turned up dead in nearby waterways; a plume...
by Eric Dixon | Feb 13, 2023 | Blog Posts, Shared Prosperity and Clean Energy
Here’s a name you don’t often read in Appalachian history books: Bill Worthington. Bill was a Black coal miner from Harlan County, Kentucky, and a member of the United Mine Workers of America. Bill played a pivotal role in historic labor disputes in Harlan...
by Ben Hunkler | Jan 30, 2023 | Blog Posts
The close of 2022 marks the second year of the Ohio River Valley Institute’s research on clean energy, shared prosperity, and equitable civic structures in the greater Ohio River Valley and Appalachia. Two years ago, our organization launched as an independent,...
by Ted Boettner | Jan 17, 2023 | Blog Posts, Orphaned Oil & Gas Wells, Repairing the Damage
In August of 2022, the US Department of Interior (DOI) announced it awarded 24 states $560 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) to plug over 10,000 wells, reclaim well sites, and measure methane emissions. In January of last year, DOI announced...
by Joanne Kilgour | Nov 14, 2022 | Blog Posts, Hydrogen & Carbon Capture
Last week, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed into law House Bill 1059, an amendment to the state’s Tax Reform Code that, among other things, establishes subsidies for the development of a natural gas-based blue hydrogen and carbon capture hub. The bill...
by Sean O'Leary | Oct 13, 2022 | Blog Posts, Natural Gas
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...
by Ben Hunkler | Oct 12, 2022 | Blog Posts, Hydrogen & Carbon Capture
Fossil fuel companies are misleading the public about carbon capture technology, according to internal documents unearthed as part of an ongoing federal investigation into fossil fuel company misinformation. Private conversations between top employees of major...
by Wendy Patton | Oct 11, 2022 | Blog Posts, Shared Prosperity and Clean Energy
Economic growth—the expansion and enrichment of business activity—is a narrow goal, easy to explain and understand: “More jobs for the community.” Economic development—expansion and enrichment of a community—is a broader goal: hard to explain, often fraught...
