Appalachian Gas: Near-Term and Long-Term Trends
Analysts expect natural gas production in Appalachia to grow in the coming decades, but the immediate outlook is a murkier prospect.
Data Center Expansion Continues a Legacy of Fossil Exploitation
Data center projects in Appalachia would use a staggering amount of fracked gas and could harm communities’ health and the environment.
Why “drill, baby, drill” won’t lower your utility bills
Increasing fracking and drilling operations could help energy companies, foreign consumers, tech companies, and shareholders—but not struggling Americans.
Frackalachia Update 2025
New gas development for data centers and LNG is “destined to disappoint” as Appalachia’s fracking counties continue their economic spiral.
Report: New Gas Development for LNG, Data Centers “Destined to Disappoint”
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. —— The race to expand Appalachian natural gas production in anticipation of new power demand for AI data centers and increased export capacity of liquified natural gas (LNG) is unlikely to generate long-term job growth or local prosperity, according to a new report from the Ohio River Valley Institute. “For over a decade, […]
Misleading and Just Plain Wrong
The central claim of the Heritage Foundation’s special report that, because of New York’s ban on fracking, counties in the Marcellus region “lost out on around $11,000 per resident or $27,000 per household” is simply wrong. Why? Because . . . Very little of the money invested in or earned by fracking ever lands […]
Another Gas Pipeline Expansion Could Drive More Fracking in Appalachia’s Gas Reserves
A new plan to expand a New England gas pipeline would drive more fracking in Appalachia’s colossal gas reserves. “Project Maple” is a proposal by the Canadian energy company Enbridge to expand its Algonquin Gas Transmission Pipeline by 25%, or 750 million cubic feet (MMcf) per day. Originally constructed in 1954 and with a current […]
The Meaning of MVP
Tucked amid the Biden administration’s cornucopia of climate initiatives was a poison pill: the greenlighting of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) in Appalachia. When the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 essentially bulldozed the permitting review process for the pipeline, it accelerated a perilous feedback loop: gas extraction in Appalachia driving growth in gas-consuming infrastructure […]
Oil & Gas: Central to Pennsylvania politics but not its economy
I’ve gotten better at resisting the urge to respond to every inaccurate claim, every attempt to mislead, and every rhetorical flourish that issues forth from the region’s oil and gas industry executives who, when they’re not claiming that natural gas is “clean energy”, are telling us that it doesn’t matter whether it’s clean or […]
Misplaced Faith: How Policymakers’ Belief in Natural Gas is Driving Rural Pennsylvania Into an Economic Dead End
Policymakers’ pursuit of natural gas development is failing rural Pennsylvania, economic data show.