Building Shared Prosperity & Clean Energy
Generations of fossil fuel development have hollowed out the Ohio River Valley economy, hemorrhaging jobs and accelerating population decline. Investing in the region’s energy transition is an opportunity to spur job growth and shared prosperity across the region.
Clean energy generation, energy efficiency retrofits, quality-of-life focused development, and large-scale initiatives to repair the damage from the oil and gas industry could create tens of thousands of jobs and revitalize long-struggling communities. Here’s how.
“A clean energy pathway for Western Pennsylvania is less costly, creates more jobs, and more effectively reduces climate-warming emissions relative to a pathway centered around natural gas and carbon capture.”
Reports:
All research on Shared Prosperity & Clean Energy:
Maximizing Impact of Federal Orphaned Well Program in States
Earlier this month, we provided an explainer of the $4.7 billion federal orphaned well program that was included in the federal infrastructure legislation (the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021) and what that meant for states in the Ohio River Valley. To...
Listen: A Model for Economic and Clean Energy Transition
(Source: Yale Climate Connections) Senior Researcher Sean O'Leary joins Dr. Anthony Lieserowitz and Yale Climate Connections to discuss the remarkable economic turnaround taking place in Centralia, Washington. For years, Centralia and surrounding Lewis...
Federal Orphan Well Funding, Explained
At the end of January, the Biden administration and the US Department of Interior (DOI) announced the first round of $1.15 billion in funding from a new federal orphaned well program to plug, remediate, and reclaim oil and gas wells. As part of the 2021...
Coal Mine Cleanup in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Explained
In November 2021, Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which made historic investments in the reclamation of land and water damaged by the coal industry before 1977. We have found that while the bill will only address about half of...
Another round of Appalachian coal plant retirements may be imminent
January 25, 2022 may become the day the music died for a number of the remaining Appalachian coal-fired power plants. That’s when PJM, the regional transmission operator (RTO) that manages wholesale energy markets in all or parts of 13 mid-Atlantic and midwestern...
Sloganeering politicians and CEO’s and the myth of energy independence
Politicians and CEOs, Republicans and Democrats, need to stop invoking “energy independence” because they don’t really mean it . . . that is, unless they truly believe in transition to clean, renewable resources.
Repairing the Damage: Cleaning Up Hazardous Coal Ash Can Create Jobs and Improve the Environment
Cleaning up hazardous coal ash sites in the Ohio Valley can alleviate environmental and public health threats and create jobs.
A Stronger Appalachian Regional Commission Vital to Economic Progress
A funding boost could enable the Appalachian Regional Commission to improve regional infrastructure and generate real, lasting prosperity.
A Big Civilian Climate Corps is Vital for Economy and Appalachia
A revamped Civilian Climate Corps (CCC) could reduce carbon emissions, grow jobs, and restore our natural resources and environment in the Ohio River Valley and beyond.