by Sean O'Leary | Dec 9, 2025 | Blog Posts, Natural Gas, Shared Prosperity and Clean Energy
Key findings: The expansion of AI and data centers is at present almost the sole driver of US economic growth, as measured by GDP. Because data centers are highly capital-intensive but not very labor-intensive, they have the potential to worsen income inequality and...
by Justine Hackimer | Nov 21, 2025 | Blog Posts, Shared Prosperity and Clean Energy
US Steel announced Nov. 12 that it will build a new direct reduced iron (DRI) plant at its Big River Steel campus in Osceola, Arkansas. The company hasn’t shared many details yet, and an investor presentation from its parent company Nippon Steel shows that the project...
by Kathy Hipple, Irina Spector, Justine Hackimer, and Nick Messenger | Nov 6, 2025 | Natural Gas, Reports, Shared Prosperity and Clean Energy
View report View summary The lagging US primary steel industry risks falling further behind in a rapidly decarbonizing global market absent large-scale investment in a transition to low- or zero-emissions “green” steelmaking, according to our latest report. US primary...
by Eric Dixon and Ben Hunkler | Aug 28, 2025 | Abandoned Mine Lands, Blog Posts, Shared Prosperity and Clean Energy
A landmark three-county solar array is coming to Southeast Kentucky’s coalfields, promising to be one of the nation’s largest renewables projects developed on former mine lands. But as developers prepare to break ground, questions remain around the project’s economic...
by Eric Dixon | Aug 4, 2025 | Newsroom, Shared Prosperity and Clean Energy
LOUISVILLE, Ky. —— Ford, the nation’s largest employer of UAW autoworkers, will reveal plans to design and build a new electric vehicle and EV platform at an August 11th event that CEO Jim Farley likens to a “Model-T moment.” The announcement will be made at Ford’s...
by Ted Boettner | Jul 29, 2025 | Shared Prosperity and Clean Energy
Earlier this month, the US Supreme Court gave the Trump administration the green light to continue with mass layoffs of federal workers. This decision came on the heels of multiple executive actions that have already led to mass firings within many federal government...
by Eric Dixon | Jul 14, 2025 | Blog Posts, Shared Prosperity and Clean Energy
On June 18, Senior Researcher Eric Dixon appeared before the Siting Board of the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) to advocate the condition of the approval of the proposed 210-MW Starfire solar project in Appalachian Kentucky on further action needed to:...
by Eric Dixon | Jun 4, 2025 | Blog Posts, Shared Prosperity and Clean Energy
This page chronicles main events in the development of the BlueOval SK Battery Park in Kentucky, including the unionization effort at the facility. Updates will be added as future events unfold. Last updated August 8, 2025. Timeline May 20, 2021: Ford and South...
by Justine Hackimer | May 30, 2025 | Shared Prosperity and Clean Energy
It has been one week since President Donald Trump announced a “planned partnership” between United States Steel and Nippon Steel. The late-Friday statement, sent out on Truth Social just before a long holiday weekend, was light on details but claimed that the deal...
by Virginia Alvino Young and Ben Hunkler | Apr 17, 2025 | Blog Posts, Shared Prosperity and Clean Energy
Let’s talk about coal. Yes—coal, the black rock that powered much of America’s past. Lately, some leaders have been trying to bring it back in a big way. But here’s the truth: no matter what policies are put in place, the coal industry is on its way out—and trying to...
