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 Initiative (RGGI) is that the terrible things they say will happen if Pennsylvania joins RGGI are exactly the things that will happen if the Commonwealth doesn’t become a member. Without RGGI: Pennsylvanians’ electric bills will go […]
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 aftermath of the 2020 election, we are preparing to meet a new presidential administration and returning to face the everyday challenges present in our communities. Elections coverage is giving way […]
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 raising wages, improving job quality standards, and increasing disposable income of workers. That’s because most new jobs in the Ohio River Valley are projected to pay median wages […]
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 total nearly $14 billion, a figure greater than the GDP of Armenia. For a culture that is used to immediate gratification, the days spent waiting for election results required more patience and discipline than […]
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 months of frenzied political campaigning and voter education have crescendoed, Election Day has arrived, and the gaze of the nation is upon us as we all await […]
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 fracking. The order, if issued less than a week before election day, will be a transparent attempt to contrast the president’s boosterism of fossil fuels with former Vice President Joe Biden’s announced […]
ORVI Insider #5: LNG-by-Rail Transport Poses Threat of Catastrophic Explosions
The latest news and research findings from the Ohio River Valley Institute.
Good Jobs: A Robust Labor Movement, Strong Labor Laws
The key to stronger communities is not trying to turn the clock back to an industrial past but to learn the lesson of how we got those “good jobs” of yesterday: a robust labor movement protected by strong labor laws.