Desperately Seeking an Exit
Market headwinds are intensifying. Even after selling off millions in PA tax credits, Shell is unlikely to recoup its $14B petrochemical investment.
Beaver County Data Analysis: 2025 Update
Beaver County has seen double-digit declines in GDP & employment since Shell’s petrochemical complex was announced in 2012.
Revisiting Pennsylvania’s Bad Bet
The Shell Polymers Monaca petrochemicals complex shadowing the banks of the Ohio River in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, has become something of a symbol in Appalachia. To the many families nearby, it represents a constant, draconic threat, belching episodic flames, discharging headache-inducing smells, and triggering air quality warnings for dangerous particulate matter and volatile organic compounds. […]
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 need to start figuring […]
Giving Away the Future
Billions in ITEP tax incentives have failed to grow jobs and personal incomes in Louisiana.
Pennsylvania’s Bad Bet
Faulty economic impact studies misled Pennsylvania on Shell’s economic benefits.
Statement on Federal Funding for the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub
The Ohio River Valley Institute published the following statement in response to the Department of Energy’s announcement of up to $925 million in federal funding for the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2). ARCH2 Blue Hydrogen Hub Threatens Higher Costs with Few Jobs, Continued Emissions Alternative ‘Clean Energy Pathway’ Would Create 12,000 Jobs by […]
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 […]
West Virginia’s Oil & Gas Industry Pushing for Millions in Property Tax Cuts
While West Virginians are dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and trying to figure out if their kids can attend school, the oil and gas industry is working with the West Virginia State Tax Department to cut its property taxes by as much as $62 million per year. Last month, the state tax department released a […]