Three new barriers to Appalachian petrochemical expansion
How Saudi Arabia may cripple the US fracking boom and the Appalachian petrochemical buildout along with it It’s hard to conceive of a worse scenario for the nascent Appalachian petrochemical industry than a world in which the price of oil is chronically low, competition from more efficient producers of ethylene is increasing, and growth in […]
Game Unchanged . . . But, Not Unchangeable
How the greater Ohio Valley can awaken from its natural gas and petrochemical fever dream to an economic future that actually delivers jobs and prosperity “Game-changer” – It’s amazing the word doesn’t stick in their throats. For a decade, policymakers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia have been calling the natural gas fracking boom and, […]
The Macroproblem of Microplastics
Nurdles are too small to be effectively cleaned up once they escape into the environment, yet petrochemical companies ship billions upon billions of nurdles from production sites to factories all over the world.
Top economists tell OH, PA, WV governors petrochemical boom is a non-starter
The following public letter concerning economic development, the petrochemical industry, and the need for more viable and sustainable strategies was sent to the governors of Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania on June 15, 2020. See this background brief to learn more about the rationale and motivation for the letter. June 15, 2020 Dear Governors DeWine, […]
Background brief: A letter to the governors
On June 15, 2020 a group of seven prominent economists and policy analysts from leading universities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia and a former Pennsylvania Secretary of Environmental Protection, wrote a public letter to the governors of the three states warning them that economic development strategies based on a massive buildout of the region’s petrochemical […]
Tales of the Shale Crescent Part 1: “But They Have Studies!”
Hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars being spent on efforts to bring about the petrochemical boom are likely being squandered.