Research
The Ohio River Valley Institute examines some of the region’s most pressing challenges. We provide policy analysis and practical tools for building a stronger Appalachia. All of our research is available for you to cite, use, and share, per our free use policy.
Technical Note for Forthcoming Report – Repairing the Damage: Cleaning up the land, water, and air damaged by the coal industry pre-‘77
Abandoned mine land (AML) reclamation consists of design, construction, and administration costs.
Cost estimates in the official AML inventory, eAMLIS, only reflect construction costs—and many construction cost estimates are old and not updated for inflation or new reclamation techniques.
ORVI Insider #9: Plastic Market Trends Are Bad News for Appalachian Cracker Plans
ORVI Insider December 22, 2020 In this edition of the ORVI Insider, our last newsletter of 2020, we...
Paper Summary: Near Term Carbon Tax Policy in the US Economy
New research by Advisory Council member Nick Muller evaluates impacts of near term carbon tax policy in the United States.
Plastic Market Trends Are Bad News for Appalachia Cracker Plans
The Ohio Valley petrochemical buildout is in big trouble. You know it when you hear things like this: “The Zeitgeist has shifted, and this is a...
ORVI testifies in support of Pennsylvania joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
Reduced emissions, lower utility bills, and economic development for small-town Pennsylvania ORVI testimony before the Pennsylvania Environmental...
ORVI Insider #8: What the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Would Mean for Pennsylvania
ORVI Insider December 8, 2020 A Message from Our Executive Director The days may be...
What would joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative mean for Pennsylvania?
JOBS, SAVINGS, AND HEALTHIER FAMILIES The funny thing about opponents of Pennsylvania's proposed membership in the Regional Greenhouse Gas...
ORVI Insider #7: Fracking Isn’t Popular in Pennsylvania
A Message from Our Executive Director It has been a long couple of weeks in what has felt like a very long year. As we process the...
Fracking is Not Popular in Pennsylvania
Public opinion research–and now actual election results–give lie to the myth: fracking simply is not popular, not nationally and not in Pennsylvania.
Low-Wage Jobs Are the Future in Ohio River Valley Without Policy Change
If policymakers at the state and federal level want to build a strong economy with good paying jobs in the Ohio River Valley region it will require...
Election 2020: Will Pending Litigation Impact Results in Pennsylvania?
The 2020 election has taken place against the backdrop of a pandemic, a racial justice movement, and record-setting political spending--projected to...
ORVI Elections Analysis
2020 election results and analysis for Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky
ORVI Insider #6: Trump Won’t Like the Results of an Economic Impact Study on Fracking
A Message from Our Executive Director Back at my desk in Pennsylvania, I have the strong sensation of being in the eye of a storm; the past few...
Supreme Court Allows Pennsylvania Extension to Count Ballots, For Now
For the moment, Pennsylvania ballots postmarked by Election Day and received through November 6 could be counted. The opinion looked like a win for voting rights in a battleground state , but it’s too early to celebrate.
Trump wants to order an economic impact study for fracking. He won’t like the results.
Tim Puko of the Wall Street Journal recently reported that President Trump is weighing an executive order to study the economic impacts of...