On Sept. 10, 2020 the THRIVE Resolution was introduced in Congress by Democrats. This resolution simultaneously tackles three separate but inextricably intertwined crisis: pandemic recovery, climate change and systemic social injustice.
Over 100 members of Congress as well as the Green New Deal Coalition made up of hundreds of grass roots groups from across the country, including local Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action, signed on to support this commitment for a just transition into a sustainable economy that works for everyone.
The THRIVE agenda contains eight “pillars” that not only help our country recover but also: Transform, Heal and Renew by Investing in a Vibrant Economy. These solutions respond to the needs of all Americans and can be reviewed in more detail at thriveagenda.com.
According to estimates by economists at University of Massachusetts Amherst, this economic renewal plan will create almost 16 million jobs over the next decade. This includes: 5+million to replace lead pipes, build clean public transit, fix our infrastructure; 4+million to protect wetlands/ forests, invest in sustainable family farms; 4+million to expand access to wind and solar, electric vehicles, healthy buildings; 2+million for child care and elder care.
These jobs will support strong labor standards by providing family-sustaining wages, health benefits and access to unions. Also, to counteract racial, economic and environmental injustices, at least 50 percent of the investments must be made to the impacted “frontline” communities, those that have suffered disproportionately. The eight page THRIVE Resolution addresses pollution from fossil fuels and manufacturing as well as repairing government relationships with sovereign Native Nations.
It includes a goal of running the U.S. power sector on only carbon pollution-free energy by 2035. The THRIVE agenda, however, is not a piece of enacted federal legislation. A resolution is a type of action that promotes specific policies and outlines guidelines for future legislation, for example, the recently passed American Rescue Plan.
The projected costs of this plan exceed those of our World War II mobilization but inaction/lesser response would be more costly in the long run. The U.S. economy could lose billions of dollars in both damages and health costs by the end of the century due to the impacts of climate change on communities. Hopefully, our new “normal” will foster justice, provide good jobs and promote a livable climate.
Please contact your Congressional representatives and encourage their support of this agenda.
Lobbyists and industry representatives in the fossil fuels industries, including Greg Kozera with Shale Crescent USA, like to claim that the industries are all about good-paying jobs, prosperity, and thriving communities. These are claims that West Virginians and Appalachians more broadly cannot afford to go on believing.
An article in The New Republic by staff writer Kate Aronoff titled “Fossil Fuels Companies Are Jobs Killers” from April 5 explains why the myth of the benevolent extraction industry must finally be subjected to and overcome by the truth. Aronoff writes, “A recent analysis from the Norwegian research firm Rystad Energy, published last week, finds that ‘robotic drilling systems can potentially reduce the number of roughnecks required on a drilling rig’ by 20 to 30 percent over the next decade, translating to hundreds of thousands of jobs lost and billions of dollars saved worldwide. In the United States, Rystad Energy predicts that could mean the permanent loss of 140,000 jobs.”
Aronoff also writes, “Across mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction–a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics category that also includes support services–unemployment now stands at 15 percent. As of last month, the sector had the highest sectoral rate of unemployment in the country.”
You might think that, with all the federal bailout money coming in because of the coronavirus, fossil fuels companies could stay afloat and keep people employed. You’d be half right. Aronoff writes, “A study from Bailout Watch finds that 77 oil and gas companies that got a total of $8.2 billion worth of stimulus-related tax breaks last year laid off 16 percent of their combined workforce, totaling 58,000 people. Marathon Petroleum–which raked in $2.1 billion in pandemic tax breaks–got approximately $1 million for each of the 1,920 workers it laid off.”
A recent study by the Ohio River Valley Institute (cited by Aronoff) “found that the 22 Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia counties responsible for 90 percent of the region’s oil and gas production saw their share of the nation’s jobs, personal income, and population all decline.
At a time when the gross domestic product of Belmont County, Ohio, was growing at five times the national rate, it lost 7 percent of jobs and 2 percent of its population.”
Ms. Aronoff isn’t the only writer from The New Republic I’d like to recognize. In a piece titled “The Fracking Shill Local Newspapers Love to Publish” from March 25, staff writer Nick Martin points out that Greg Kozera of Shale Crescent USA’s “weekly pro-fracking column often runs in eight to 10 local papers throughout the Ohio River Valley, reaching anywhere from 60,000 readers to well over 200,000 if his column is picked up by the region’s major papers like the Gazette-Mail, Dispatch, or Akron Beacon Journal.” The decision by The Parkersburg News and Sentinel to publish Kozera weekly is part of what led to Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action contributing this weekly Climate Corner column. It’s not at all clear why an industry PR professional receiving his pay from the industry gets all this free press.
Fortunately, the Mid-Ohio Valley, West Virginia, Southeastern Ohio, and the rest of Appalachia are not stuck with extraction industry lies for sustenance and prosperity. There are alternatives. Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action has partnered with a statewide coalition in West Virginia called the New Jobs Coalition and begun our own initiative called New Jobs Appalachia. We collectively support the Transform, Heal, and Renew by Investing in a Vibrant Economy–THRIVE Agenda and THRIVE ACT.
A recent study conducted by the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst found that, “implementing the 10-year THRIVE investment agenda in West Virginia would generate about 50,000 jobs the first year of the program, and for the full 10 years of the program. It would also bring about $5.2 billion dollars per year to West Virginia from the overall THRIVE budget.” You can learn more and download the full PERI report at www.newjobswv.org.
Fossil fuel workers have powered and built America, but the industry has left Appalachia in ruins and today offers nothing but empty promises and lies. Our laborers, their families, and our communities deserve better. It’s time to THRIVE.
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Eric Engle is Chairman of the not-for-profit volunteer organization Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action, Board Member for the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, and Co-Chairman of the Sierra Club of West Virginia Chapter’s Executive Committee.
PARKERSBURG — Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action is holding a high school Earth Day essay contest in April for youth in grades nine through 12 who are attending school or homeschooling in Wood and Washington counties.
Submissions must be received by April 30.
The contest requires two steps. Students will complete an online, interactive carbon footprint calculator activity with specific instructions provided. Students also will respond to the essay prompt, which references the activity.
Teachers are invited to use the online activity and writing prompt in their classrooms this April leading up to Earth Day. Students also can independently enter.
“For this year’s essay, students will reflect upon carbon footprints, or the measurement of how our human activities generate greenhouse gases, which in turn impact our climate and environment,” said Angie Iafrate, Climate Action engagement and program coordinator.
Judges will award prizes to the top three essay submissions with the first prize being a $100 Grand Central Mall gift card. Additional prize information, along with full activity instructions and contest details are available at www.ecosparkmov.org or by emailing the coordinator at angiemovca@gmail.com.
April 22 is recognized around the world as Earth Day. In 1970 the U.S. established the first Earth Day, and now more than 193 nations take part in the celebration.
Like last year, this year’s events will be subdued because of the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. While we may not be able to participate in public activities, we can all use this day to ponder the effects of man-made activities on our planet. The first step in becoming an environmentalist is to be aware of how our everyday actions impact the planet.
The definition of an environmentalist, according to Dictionary.com, is “any person who advocates or works to protect the air, water, animals, plants and other natural resources from pollution or its effects.”
Given that definition, it is hard to believe anyone would identify as an “anti-environmental” person. After all, we only have one livable planet in the solar system, and shouldn’t we all be trying to protect our only home?
I fell in love with our planet at a very young age. When I was 8 years old, our family moved from the city to a rural area. Growing up with woodlands as my backyard helped foster this love affair.
I spent countless hours with field guides and my binoculars exploring the woodlands. I also read books by authors like Walden, Audubon and John Muir. I began to realize how important wilderness areas are in our lives.
Before the 1970s environmental policies and laws were non-existent. Many of you remember the Cuyahoga River fires, the black plumes of pollutants streaming from industrial smokestacks, the toxic wastes buried under the city of Love Canal and streams foaming from phosphate detergent contamination.
These were some examples of how we were destroying the planet we call our home. As citizens became aware of the threats to their world, politicians like President Nixon decided to create policy and laws to protect us. Shortly after the first Earth Day, the Environmental Protection Agency was created.
For me, Earth Day has become a moment to take inventory of what we have done to help the planet and what still needs to be addressed. Sadly, the past year has been another year of destruction for the planet. The agencies that were put in place to protect “human health and the environment” have failed us and the planet.
We are still destroying the rain forests at an alarming rate, still highly dependent on fossil fuels, still manufacturing enormous amounts of single-use plastics, still relying on petrochemicals to grow our lawns and foods, and still not addressing climate change.
Those who believe we cannot save the natural world and also have good jobs at the same time are wrong. Those who believe the “climate crisis is a hoax” are wrong. Those who believe “environmentalists” are wacko folks who have no jobs and live in their parents’ basements are wrong. Those who believe environmentalists are “outsiders” who only want to demonize progress are wrong.
Who are environmentalists? They are preservationists, naturalists, ecologists, teachers, farmers, birders, beekeepers, entrepreneurs, engineers, moms, dads, grandparents and even kids; the list can go on and on. Environmentalists are people who are consciously aware of how their actions affect the planet. They are people who care about the world we will pass down to the next generations.
Becoming an environmentalist is a learning process. There is no such thing as a perfect environmentalist, but every time you take a step to change a destructive habit, you make a difference.
As I discover new ways to step lightly on the planet, I try to pass that knowledge on to friends and my readers. As Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Anyone who has worked as either a professional in the environmental field or a volunteer will tell you it is hard work and often depressing work. Sadly, there are more times the natural world loses a battle rather than wins one.
Concerned people from the states of West Virginia and Virginia have been protesting the construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline for over two years. This 303-mile pipeline passes over 200 miles of land referred to as “high landslide susceptibility,” which means the steep slopes it transverses tend to erode and slip. This threatens the rivers and streams that are crossed by the pipeline. The pipeline has already been fined $303,000 by West Virginia’s DEP for violations as they failed to control erosion and water contamination. MVP also was fined $2.15 million by Virginia’s DEP for similar violations.
Recently, law-enforcement workers removed the last two tree-sitters at the Yellow Finch Blockade tree-sit. The people at this blockade were willing to sacrifice weeks and even months of their lives in an effort to protect forests, streams and rivers in the path of the pipeline. This loss was another example of how industry, aided by flawed policies and laws and supported by bought-off political leaders, often triumphs against local citizens trying to protect their property from eminent domain.
Nearly 50 years of personal experience as an environmentalist has taught me this fact. Corporations have endless resources and lobbyists that they use very effectively to craft pro-industry regulations and to influence political leaders.
The debacle of Ohio’s HB 6, the bill to bail out failing nuclear energy in the state, is proof. Citizens often find themselves in a David versus Goliath battle; they feel overwhelmed. However, every toxin removed, every stream that is cleaned up, every species that is protected and every acre of forest preserved are wins for environmentalists.
Each of us can take steps to make a difference. Some ideas: cut back on energy use in your home, carpool, recycle, consider solar panels for your home, ask your grocery store manager to reduce single-use plastics, elect pro-environmental politicians, cut back on meat consumption, support and join eco grassroots organizations, purchase sustainable products, and encourage your children to step lightly on the planet. Richard Louv’s book, “Last Child in the Woods,” points out how kids today suffer from a lack of exposure to the natural world. Earth Day would be a great time to take a hike in the woods and start introducing the young people in your life to the natural world. In the end Earth is still our only home. Isn’t it time we step up to protect it?
After debating with one of my friends about letters to the editor, I realized that a letter should be written to the editor for her encouraging a broadened free speech platform in the editorial and opinion pages of The Parkersburg News and Sentinel. The paper has enhanced reader knowledge by presenting columnists that cover both conservative and progressive ideas. All of us should think critically and it should be taught in society. When critical thinking is applied to different ideas, we have an improved probability of making better decisions and getting better outcomes.
I have not subscribed to this paper for over six years because of the one-sidedness of the past, and because of a personal experience with the newspaper. However, my friend now subscribes, and I plan to resubscribe.
Most businesses that are looking for a new location want a dynamic encouraging and progressive community. I feel that Parkersburg has not had that mindset for a long time. Hopefully, the newspaper’s improvement in science and fact dissemination will plant better seeds for harvest in our community’s future. Thank you!
The Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action slogan, “save the grandchildren,” has special meaning to me and my commitment to climate action. I have only two grandchildren, both of whom are in college. The coronavirus pandemic had dealt them a very poor hand to enter the job market. In addition, to these economic challenges, we could be giving them a sick planet devastated by the effects of climate change.
The facts about climate change are irrefutable: oceans have been warming, rising, and becoming more acidic; glaciers are disappearing at accelerating and alarming rates; world-wide temperatures are setting records every year; and extreme weather is striking in several places in the form of droughts (leading to fires like those in Australia), more severe hurricanes, and massive rainfall events. Fully 97 percent of peer-reviewed scientists agree that human-caused climate change is at the heart of these events.
When I was vacationing in northern Minnesota in summer 2019, I took a boat tour of the Port of Duluth. The tour guide pointed out a large number of wind turbines that had just arrived from Germany and were bound for Kansas. I asked myself, “Why aren’t these wind turbines (which are usually made of fiberglass) being manufactured and shipped from manufacturers in the U.S. — or more specifically from eastern Ohio where I live. Ohio has a strong manufacturing base and our region has a long tradition of glass making. Besides manufacturing infrastructure we need human-resource development for renewables. It struck me that educational institutions need to strengthen their programs in engineering and technician training for the rapidly growing economy of renewable energy including the manufacture of wind turbines, wind-turbine towers (80-foot structures made of steel), and solar panels.
The future of the energy economy and jobs in the U.S. clearly lies in renewables, especially wind and solar power. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (U.S. Department of Labor) predicts the fastest employment growth from 2016-2026 is expected to be in the occupations of solar photovoltaic installers (105 percent increase) and wind turbine service technicians (96 percent increase). Also projected to grow are the occupations of environmental engineers, conservation scientists, hazardous materials removal workers, and wind and solar technicians. All of these occupations are predicted to result in median annual salaries higher than the median salary for all jobs in the U.S.; for example, environmental engineers are predicted to make $86,000/year, and technicians $50,230/year. The predicted growth in these occupations is faster than the average growth of all occupations in the U.S. and reflects rapid increase in jobs in renewable energy. There are 360,000 jobs in the solar energy sector (more than the number of jobs in the coal and nuclear energy sectors combined). And there are another 102,000 jobs in wind energy (the generation of wind energy tripled from 2008-2016).
In 1979 there were 225,000 jobs in the coal industry; now there are about 53,000 (NBC News, 2019). Utility companies are shutting down coal-fired power plants as the energy market shifts toward renewables and natural gas. These are market forces at work. Of course, we should not abandon coal workers to poverty and neglect–we should support them with vocational training, health-care benefits, and other assistance to help them and their communities through this transition toward renewable energy. While the market forces in the energy economy make this transition, it is in the national interest to support former coal workers but also to support the advancing economy of renewable energy. It is renewable energy that will address the urgent need to confront climate change and reduce carbon emissions, which should be strong national and international objectives.
Not only do renewable energy sources reduce carbon emissions in the generation of electrical power, but they are also less expensive than most other sources. The cost of wind and solar energy per megawatt hour are $50 and $58 respectively, while the cost of coal is $100 and nuclear $110 (Lazard’s Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis, 2018).
Electrical generation from renewables has tripled since 2001 (Energy Information Administration, 2019), mostly due to the rapid growth of wind energy. It is estimated that half of the world’s power will be delivered from solar and wind sources by 2050. We have seen some of this growth in our region in the new AEP-Ohio solar hub in Highland County.
There has been much discussion and promotion of natural (shale) gas in our region. Natural gas is an important resource to bridge the transition from coal to renewables, but at the current cost of $1.79 per 1,000 cubic feet (March 2020 spot price according to the Energy Information Administration — that price was over $9 in 2000), profitability is in question. It is hard to imagine that many companies can operate profitably at that price, much less provide sustainable jobs to support the economy long term. One recent sign of the impact of this price decline of natural gas is the declaration of bankruptcy by Chesapeake Energy, a pioneer in hydraulic fracturing of shale gas.
Republicans and Democrats are coming together around the idea of fee and dividend. The Climate Leadership Council as a Republican group is promoting the idea, as well as Citizens Climate Lobby as a nonpartisan group. There is an economic consensus, including economists from the left and the right, recommending fee and dividend (econstatement.org). Republicans and Democrats alike have grandchildren, and we all wish to pass down to them a livable world.
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George Banziger, Ph.D., was a faculty member at Marietta College and an academic dean at three other colleges. Now retired, he is a member of the Citizens Climate Lobby, the Green Sanctuary Committee of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Marietta, Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action, and Braver Angels (a group addressing political polarization).
Appearing on-line on Ohio River Valley Institute (an independent, nonprofit research and communications center – “Sound research for a more sustainable, equitable, democratic, and prosperous Appalachia”:
March 23, 2021 Eric de Place’s summary of ORVI ‘s new REPORT and link to download:
“Risks for New Natural Gas Development in Appalachia” – Groundbreaking new analysis shows future Appalachian shale gas drilling unprofitable and petrochemical buildout unlikely
Risks for New Natural Gas Developments in Appalachia by Peter Erickson and Ploy Achakulwisut of Stockholm Environment Institute U.S. Link to download pdf.
February 2021 Report by Department of Economics and Political Economy Research Institution (PERI) authored by Robert Pollin, Jeannette Wicks-Lim, Shouvik Chakraborty, and Gregor Semieniuk
Impacts of the ReImagine Appalachia & Clean Energy Transition Programs for West Virginia: Job Creation, Economic Recovery, and Long-Term Sustainability. Download available at this site:
Thursday, February 25, 2021 Zoom Meeting of Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) presenting study:
Overview of the ReImagine Appalachia Climate Infrastructure Plan which would create 41,100 family-sustaining jobs in West Virginia. Angie Rosser, Robert Pollin (lead author of report), Delegate Evan Hansen, Quenton King, Mayor Steve Williams and Josh Sword. 38-minute Recording available: https://m.facebook.com/PERIatUMass/?ref=page_internal&mt_nav=0
Appearing on-line in WV Public Broadcasting and WOUB (PBS):
March 23, 2021 Energy & Environment Article by Emily Allen
“Bill For Air, Water Quality Rules Clears Senate Judiciary Committee”
Friday, March 26, 2021, 2pm webinar by Green Peace’s project, Fire Drill Fridays with Jane Fonda
Dr. Sandra Steingraber discusses how fracking is a danger to our climate, communities, & health, and what we can do about it. (MOVCA is mentioned by Dr. Sandra Steingraber!)
Join U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and movement leaders for an activist call to discuss our path to reforming our democracy through urging the Senate to pass the For the People Act and for a training on actions all of us can take during the April Congressional recess.
Thursday, March 18, 2021, 1pm. Discussion hosted by ReImagine Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley Institute
“Community Listening Session on Repairing the Damage from Hazardous Abandoned Oil & Gas Wells”
Monday, March 1, 2021, 9am Virtual Public Hearing before House Judiciary Committee promoted by WV Citizen Action Group. Registration is by 2/26/21 required.
People’s Public Hearing on Water Quality Standards Rule HB 2389
PARKERSBURG — Angela Iafrate has accepted a parttime position as engagement and program coordinator with the not-for-profit volunteer group Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.
“Angie will work with MOVCA leadership team to design, organize and promote among youth and young adults up to four contests in 2021 with themes drawn from the T.H.R.I.V.E. agendas,” Giulia Mannarino, Climate Action vice-chair said. “With her previous experience in teaching and working with youth, she is well-suited for helping us organize a youth group drawn from students who participate in the contests.”
Iafrate also will assist with maintaining the group’s membership records and lists.
Iafrate said she is “a teacher by training and an advocate at heart, most energized when working at the grassroots towards a more just and sustainable society.”
She has a bachelor’s in Spanish and a master’s in secondary education/Spanish from West Virginia University, including nine graduate hours in nonprofit management. Over a six-year period, she taught Spanish language classes at Parkersburg Catholic High School and at Charleston Catholic High School where she also was faculty adviser to the Environmental Club.
Iafrate has been involved in community activities and advocacy as a volunteer, including a year of AmeriCorps service and serving two-year terms on the boards of the Mid-Ohio Valley Multicultural Festival and the Appalachian Prison Book Project.
She is training in software development at Mountwest Technical and Community College and is the program assistant for West Virginia Interfaith Power and Light where she maintains a database of supporters, composes communications for email lists and copy for website and networks with environmental organizations.
“We are fortunate to have found such a capable and experienced person to work with us,” said Eric Engle, Climate Action chair. “As we come out of the restrictions of the pandemic, we’re excited to have Angie guiding our engagement with students and teachers in the MOV.” Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action focuses on raising awareness of the science establishing the danger of the climate crisis and the urgency of dealing with it. For more information, go to https://main.movclimateaction.org.
Plastic manufacturers want us to believe that our lives would not be complete without plastics. While there are beneficial applications for plastics, our reliance on single-use plastics, which make up 40 percent of all plastics produced, has created a global crisis. Our planet is drowning in plastic waste and our health is being affected by exposures to the toxic compounds used to make plastics.
Studies show plastics and microplastics are now found in our oceans, rivers, tap water, beer, foods, air, soils, and even our bodies. In one week, it is estimated that we ingest 2,000 tiny plastic particles, or the equivalent to a credit card’s weight worth of plastic. Plastics have permeated every aspect of our lives so it is not surprising that the U.S. throws out enough plastic every 16 hours to fill the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium. Every year we generate over 35 million tons of plastic waste. Of that waste, less than 9 percent is recycled. The remaining 90 percent is landfilled, incinerated, or discarded into our ecosystems.
Companies that make and sell disposable plastic products push the responsibility for these wastes onto consumers, claiming recycling is the answer. However, fifty years after the industry-backed “Keep America Beautiful” anti-litter campaign, the USA’s recycling rate is an abysmal 8.7 percent. Even if recycling worked, plastics can only be recycled one or two times before the quality degrades. Glass and metals can be recycled over and over with the same quality integrity.
Citizens pay the increased costs for municipal solid waste landfills as the amount of plastic waste has increased from 390,000 tons in 1960 to over 27 million tons in 2018. Additionally, incineration of plastic wastes produces toxic air emissions like dioxin and furans, which rain down on the communities where these facilities are located.
People all over the world are paying the cleanup costs to pick up discarded drink bottles, Styrofoam trays, plastic bags, and other single-use plastics. According to ODOT, Ohio’s residents pay $4 million dollars a year for litter clean-up and about fifty percent of that litter is single-use wastes from fast-food establishments.
Because plastics have become so prevalent in our lives, we are constantly being exposed to plastic polymers, plasticizers, and heavy metals used in their production. Countless studies show that plasticizers such as bis-phenol A and S, phthalates, and flame retardants in plastic polymers leach into foods stored and cooked in plastic containers. Microplastics that are found in our tap water and food webs can absorb man-made chemical toxins from the environment. They act as tiny sponges and when we drink or eat foods such as fish, we also eat these toxin-laced particles.
Along with contributing to diabetes, obesity, cancer, and impaired immunity, plastic compounds are affecting our fertility in profound ways. “Like dissolves like” and because a majority of plastics and petrochemicals are carbon based, exposures to such compounds results in them being stored in our body fats. The molecular structure of many of these compounds mimics the structures of estrogen and testosterone.
The body is unable to distinguish between a plasticizer and a hormone. When this happens, the endocrine system receives incorrect messages. A plethora of scientific studies show a drastic decline in fertility rates, an increase in miscarriages, and countless other reproductive problems that can be directly attributed to increased exposures to man-made chemicals used in plastics.
Is the convenience of single-use plastics worth the price we truly pay for them? The $20 billion subsidy fossil fuels are given each year would be better used developing bioplastics using hemp, seaweed, corn, and other plant fibers.
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Randi Pokladnik, Ph.D., of Uhrichsville, is a retired research chemist who volunteers with Mid Ohio Valley Climate Action. She has a doctorate degree in Environmental Studies and is certified in Hazardous Materials Regulations.
Appearing on-line on Ohio River Valley Institute (an independent, nonprofit research and communications center – “Sound research for a more sustainable, equitable, democratic, and prosperous Appalachia”:
March 23, 2021 Article by Eric de Place, research fellow, about new report
Higher prices needed to save Appalachian natural gas, but industry faces pressure from decarbonization and uncertain petrochemical markets.
JOHNSTOWN, Pennsylvania, March 23, 2021 – New gas field developments in Appalachia are unlikely to be profitable as the US energy system undergoes rapid decarbonization, according to a new report from the Stockholm Environment Institute’s US Center (SEI) and the Ohio River Valley Institute. Rosy industry projections of a gas-fueled petrochemical buildout led many Appalachian communities to bank on job growth that never arrived and now may never materialize.
The report, “Risks for New Natural Gas Development in Appalachia” is the first quantitative assessment of how Appalachia’s gas industry would fare in a low carbon future, and it spells trouble for an already troubled industry. The report is also the most detailed publicly-available analysis of the future prospects for natural gas development in the region. The authors analyzed 200 prospective gas projects in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, using data from Rystad Energy, a leading energy research and business intelligence agency. By assessing each field’s capital and operating costs — as well as the gas prices necessary to keep such fields profitable — the authors found that the gas industry in Appalachia is vulnerable to sustained, low prices of domestic gas and natural gas liquids.
“Our analysis shows that gas expansion in Appalachia is a risky investment,” said the report’s lead author, Peter Erickson, a senior scientist and Climate Policy Program Director with SEI. “The calculations show that new gas developments face an array of serious financial risks that could render extraction from Marcellus gas fields unprofitable in the coming years.”
The report finds that a rapidly decarbonizing economy — a specific policy aim of President Biden — would severely undermine the profitability of Appalachian gas development, resulting in reduced production. Lower gas production would in turn crimp the production of natural gas byproducts, like ethane, that serve as feedstocks for the region’s much-hyped petrochemical buildout, which is already facing stiff headwinds from competitor regions and an evolving market for consumer plastics.
“Communities in Appalachia know firsthand what happens when leaders fail to plan for markets that are moving away from fossil fuels,” said Joanne Kilgour, executive director of the Ohio River Valley Institute. “We already know that fracking has failed to deliver prosperity for the local communities that produce the gas. This report makes it clear that the region should plan for real economic development that can flourish in the 21st century.”
SEI’s analysis corroborates the views of Wall Street investors and credit ratings agencies that have soured on the gas industry based on its inability to generate reliable profits. And it reinforces concerns expressed by experts from finance, policymaking, and the oil and gas industry in a recent forum sponsored by the Ohio River Valley Institute.
“With the US government committing to deep decarbonization under the Paris Agreement — and signaling an increasing focus on policies to mitigate devastating climate impacts — we expect to see profound changes to oil and gas markets that would render new Appalachian gas fields unprofitable, on average,” said co-author and SEI Scientist Ploy Achakulwisut.
The full report can be found at the Ohio River Valley Institute website here.
Contact: Eric de Place Research Fellow eric@OhioRiverValleyInstitute.org
Find Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action on the following social media:
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Support THRIVE
Parkersburg News and Sentinel
Apr 17, 2021
By Giulia Mannarino
On Sept. 10, 2020 the THRIVE Resolution was introduced in Congress by Democrats. This resolution simultaneously tackles three separate but inextricably intertwined crisis: pandemic recovery, climate change and systemic social injustice.
Over 100 members of Congress as well as the Green New Deal Coalition made up of hundreds of grass roots groups from across the country, including local Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action, signed on to support this commitment for a just transition into a sustainable economy that works for everyone.
The THRIVE agenda contains eight “pillars” that not only help our country recover but also: Transform, Heal and Renew by Investing in a Vibrant Economy. These solutions respond to the needs of all Americans and can be reviewed in more detail at thriveagenda.com.
According to estimates by economists at University of Massachusetts Amherst, this economic renewal plan will create almost 16 million jobs over the next decade. This includes: 5+million to replace lead pipes, build clean public transit, fix our infrastructure; 4+million to protect wetlands/ forests, invest in sustainable family farms; 4+million to expand access to wind and solar, electric vehicles, healthy buildings; 2+million for child care and elder care.
These jobs will support strong labor standards by providing family-sustaining wages, health benefits and access to unions. Also, to counteract racial, economic and environmental injustices, at least 50 percent of the investments must be made to the impacted “frontline” communities, those that have suffered disproportionately. The eight page THRIVE Resolution addresses pollution from fossil fuels and manufacturing as well as repairing government relationships with sovereign Native Nations.
It includes a goal of running the U.S. power sector on only carbon pollution-free energy by 2035. The THRIVE agenda, however, is not a piece of enacted federal legislation. A resolution is a type of action that promotes specific policies and outlines guidelines for future legislation, for example, the recently passed American Rescue Plan.
The projected costs of this plan exceed those of our World War II mobilization but inaction/lesser response would be more costly in the long run. The U.S. economy could lose billions of dollars in both damages and health costs by the end of the century due to the impacts of climate change on communities. Hopefully, our new “normal” will foster justice, provide good jobs and promote a livable climate.
Please contact your Congressional representatives and encourage their support of this agenda.
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: Time for Appalachia to THRIVE
Apr 10, 2021
Eric Engle
Parkersburg News and Sentinel
Lobbyists and industry representatives in the fossil fuels industries, including Greg Kozera with Shale Crescent USA, like to claim that the industries are all about good-paying jobs, prosperity, and thriving communities. These are claims that West Virginians and Appalachians more broadly cannot afford to go on believing.
An article in The New Republic by staff writer Kate Aronoff titled “Fossil Fuels Companies Are Jobs Killers” from April 5 explains why the myth of the benevolent extraction industry must finally be subjected to and overcome by the truth. Aronoff writes, “A recent analysis from the Norwegian research firm Rystad Energy, published last week, finds that ‘robotic drilling systems can potentially reduce the number of roughnecks required on a drilling rig’ by 20 to 30 percent over the next decade, translating to hundreds of thousands of jobs lost and billions of dollars saved worldwide. In the United States, Rystad Energy predicts that could mean the permanent loss of 140,000 jobs.”
Aronoff also writes, “Across mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction–a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics category that also includes support services–unemployment now stands at 15 percent. As of last month, the sector had the highest sectoral rate of unemployment in the country.”
You might think that, with all the federal bailout money coming in because of the coronavirus, fossil fuels companies could stay afloat and keep people employed. You’d be half right. Aronoff writes, “A study from Bailout Watch finds that 77 oil and gas companies that got a total of $8.2 billion worth of stimulus-related tax breaks last year laid off 16 percent of their combined workforce, totaling 58,000 people. Marathon Petroleum–which raked in $2.1 billion in pandemic tax breaks–got approximately $1 million for each of the 1,920 workers it laid off.”
A recent study by the Ohio River Valley Institute (cited by Aronoff) “found that the 22 Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia counties responsible for 90 percent of the region’s oil and gas production saw their share of the nation’s jobs, personal income, and population all decline.
At a time when the gross domestic product of Belmont County, Ohio, was growing at five times the national rate, it lost 7 percent of jobs and 2 percent of its population.”
Ms. Aronoff isn’t the only writer from The New Republic I’d like to recognize. In a piece titled “The Fracking Shill Local Newspapers Love to Publish” from March 25, staff writer Nick Martin points out that Greg Kozera of Shale Crescent USA’s “weekly pro-fracking column often runs in eight to 10 local papers throughout the Ohio River Valley, reaching anywhere from 60,000 readers to well over 200,000 if his column is picked up by the region’s major papers like the Gazette-Mail, Dispatch, or Akron Beacon Journal.” The decision by The Parkersburg News and Sentinel to publish Kozera weekly is part of what led to Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action contributing this weekly Climate Corner column. It’s not at all clear why an industry PR professional receiving his pay from the industry gets all this free press.
Fortunately, the Mid-Ohio Valley, West Virginia, Southeastern Ohio, and the rest of Appalachia are not stuck with extraction industry lies for sustenance and prosperity. There are alternatives. Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action has partnered with a statewide coalition in West Virginia called the New Jobs Coalition and begun our own initiative called New Jobs Appalachia. We collectively support the Transform, Heal, and Renew by Investing in a Vibrant Economy–THRIVE Agenda and THRIVE ACT.
A recent study conducted by the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst found that, “implementing the 10-year THRIVE investment agenda in West Virginia would generate about 50,000 jobs the first year of the program, and for the full 10 years of the program. It would also bring about $5.2 billion dollars per year to West Virginia from the overall THRIVE budget.” You can learn more and download the full PERI report at www.newjobswv.org.
Fossil fuel workers have powered and built America, but the industry has left Appalachia in ruins and today offers nothing but empty promises and lies. Our laborers, their families, and our communities deserve better. It’s time to THRIVE.
***
Eric Engle is Chairman of the not-for-profit volunteer organization Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action, Board Member for the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, and Co-Chairman of the Sierra Club of West Virginia Chapter’s Executive Committee.
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action taking submissions for Earth Day contest
Apr 10, 2021
Staff Reports
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
PARKERSBURG — Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action is holding a high school Earth Day essay contest in April for youth in grades nine through 12 who are attending school or homeschooling in Wood and Washington counties.
Submissions must be received by April 30.
The contest requires two steps. Students will complete an online, interactive carbon footprint calculator activity with specific instructions provided. Students also will respond to the essay prompt, which references the activity.
Teachers are invited to use the online activity and writing prompt in their classrooms this April leading up to Earth Day. Students also can independently enter.
“For this year’s essay, students will reflect upon carbon footprints, or the measurement of how our human activities generate greenhouse gases, which in turn impact our climate and environment,” said Angie Iafrate, Climate Action engagement and program coordinator.
Judges will award prizes to the top three essay submissions with the first prize being a $100 Grand Central Mall gift card. Additional prize information, along with full activity instructions and contest details are available at www.ecosparkmov.org or by emailing the coordinator at angiemovca@gmail.com.
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Our everyday actions can impact the planet
Randi Pokladnik
April 8, 2021
The Bargainhunter.com
April 22 is recognized around the world as Earth Day. In 1970 the U.S. established the first Earth Day, and now more than 193 nations take part in the celebration.
Like last year, this year’s events will be subdued because of the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. While we may not be able to participate in public activities, we can all use this day to ponder the effects of man-made activities on our planet. The first step in becoming an environmentalist is to be aware of how our everyday actions impact the planet.
The definition of an environmentalist, according to Dictionary.com, is “any person who advocates or works to protect the air, water, animals, plants and other natural resources from pollution or its effects.”
Given that definition, it is hard to believe anyone would identify as an “anti-environmental” person. After all, we only have one livable planet in the solar system, and shouldn’t we all be trying to protect our only home?
I fell in love with our planet at a very young age. When I was 8 years old, our family moved from the city to a rural area. Growing up with woodlands as my backyard helped foster this love affair.
I spent countless hours with field guides and my binoculars exploring the woodlands. I also read books by authors like Walden, Audubon and John Muir. I began to realize how important wilderness areas are in our lives.
Before the 1970s environmental policies and laws were non-existent. Many of you remember the Cuyahoga River fires, the black plumes of pollutants streaming from industrial smokestacks, the toxic wastes buried under the city of Love Canal and streams foaming from phosphate detergent contamination.
These were some examples of how we were destroying the planet we call our home. As citizens became aware of the threats to their world, politicians like President Nixon decided to create policy and laws to protect us. Shortly after the first Earth Day, the Environmental Protection Agency was created.
For me, Earth Day has become a moment to take inventory of what we have done to help the planet and what still needs to be addressed. Sadly, the past year has been another year of destruction for the planet. The agencies that were put in place to protect “human health and the environment” have failed us and the planet.
We are still destroying the rain forests at an alarming rate, still highly dependent on fossil fuels, still manufacturing enormous amounts of single-use plastics, still relying on petrochemicals to grow our lawns and foods, and still not addressing climate change.
Those who believe we cannot save the natural world and also have good jobs at the same time are wrong. Those who believe the “climate crisis is a hoax” are wrong. Those who believe “environmentalists” are wacko folks who have no jobs and live in their parents’ basements are wrong. Those who believe environmentalists are “outsiders” who only want to demonize progress are wrong.
Who are environmentalists? They are preservationists, naturalists, ecologists, teachers, farmers, birders, beekeepers, entrepreneurs, engineers, moms, dads, grandparents and even kids; the list can go on and on. Environmentalists are people who are consciously aware of how their actions affect the planet. They are people who care about the world we will pass down to the next generations.
Becoming an environmentalist is a learning process. There is no such thing as a perfect environmentalist, but every time you take a step to change a destructive habit, you make a difference.
As I discover new ways to step lightly on the planet, I try to pass that knowledge on to friends and my readers. As Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Anyone who has worked as either a professional in the environmental field or a volunteer will tell you it is hard work and often depressing work. Sadly, there are more times the natural world loses a battle rather than wins one.
Concerned people from the states of West Virginia and Virginia have been protesting the construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline for over two years. This 303-mile pipeline passes over 200 miles of land referred to as “high landslide susceptibility,” which means the steep slopes it transverses tend to erode and slip. This threatens the rivers and streams that are crossed by the pipeline. The pipeline has already been fined $303,000 by West Virginia’s DEP for violations as they failed to control erosion and water contamination. MVP also was fined $2.15 million by Virginia’s DEP for similar violations.
Recently, law-enforcement workers removed the last two tree-sitters at the Yellow Finch Blockade tree-sit. The people at this blockade were willing to sacrifice weeks and even months of their lives in an effort to protect forests, streams and rivers in the path of the pipeline. This loss was another example of how industry, aided by flawed policies and laws and supported by bought-off political leaders, often triumphs against local citizens trying to protect their property from eminent domain.
Nearly 50 years of personal experience as an environmentalist has taught me this fact. Corporations have endless resources and lobbyists that they use very effectively to craft pro-industry regulations and to influence political leaders.
The debacle of Ohio’s HB 6, the bill to bail out failing nuclear energy in the state, is proof. Citizens often find themselves in a David versus Goliath battle; they feel overwhelmed. However, every toxin removed, every stream that is cleaned up, every species that is protected and every acre of forest preserved are wins for environmentalists.
Each of us can take steps to make a difference. Some ideas: cut back on energy use in your home, carpool, recycle, consider solar panels for your home, ask your grocery store manager to reduce single-use plastics, elect pro-environmental politicians, cut back on meat consumption, support and join eco grassroots organizations, purchase sustainable products, and encourage your children to step lightly on the planet. Richard Louv’s book, “Last Child in the Woods,” points out how kids today suffer from a lack of exposure to the natural world. Earth Day would be a great time to take a hike in the woods and start introducing the young people in your life to the natural world. In the end Earth is still our only home. Isn’t it time we step up to protect it?
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Open discourse is encouraging
The Parkersburg News and Sentinel
By Wayne Dunn
Apr 3, 2021
After debating with one of my friends about letters to the editor, I realized that a letter should be written to the editor for her encouraging a broadened free speech platform in the editorial and opinion pages of The Parkersburg News and Sentinel. The paper has enhanced reader knowledge by presenting columnists that cover both conservative and progressive ideas. All of us should think critically and it should be taught in society. When critical thinking is applied to different ideas, we have an improved probability of making better decisions and getting better outcomes.
I have not subscribed to this paper for over six years because of the one-sidedness of the past, and because of a personal experience with the newspaper. However, my friend now subscribes, and I plan to resubscribe.
Most businesses that are looking for a new location want a dynamic encouraging and progressive community. I feel that Parkersburg has not had that mindset for a long time. Hopefully, the newspaper’s improvement in science and fact dissemination will plant better seeds for harvest in our community’s future. Thank you!
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: Finding common ground on climate change and the economy
Apr 3, 2021
George Banziger
Parkersburg News and Sentinel
The Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action slogan, “save the grandchildren,” has special meaning to me and my commitment to climate action. I have only two grandchildren, both of whom are in college. The coronavirus pandemic had dealt them a very poor hand to enter the job market. In addition, to these economic challenges, we could be giving them a sick planet devastated by the effects of climate change.
The facts about climate change are irrefutable: oceans have been warming, rising, and becoming more acidic; glaciers are disappearing at accelerating and alarming rates; world-wide temperatures are setting records every year; and extreme weather is striking in several places in the form of droughts (leading to fires like those in Australia), more severe hurricanes, and massive rainfall events. Fully 97 percent of peer-reviewed scientists agree that human-caused climate change is at the heart of these events.
When I was vacationing in northern Minnesota in summer 2019, I took a boat tour of the Port of Duluth. The tour guide pointed out a large number of wind turbines that had just arrived from Germany and were bound for Kansas. I asked myself, “Why aren’t these wind turbines (which are usually made of fiberglass) being manufactured and shipped from manufacturers in the U.S. — or more specifically from eastern Ohio where I live. Ohio has a strong manufacturing base and our region has a long tradition of glass making. Besides manufacturing infrastructure we need human-resource development for renewables. It struck me that educational institutions need to strengthen their programs in engineering and technician training for the rapidly growing economy of renewable energy including the manufacture of wind turbines, wind-turbine towers (80-foot structures made of steel), and solar panels.
The future of the energy economy and jobs in the U.S. clearly lies in renewables, especially wind and solar power. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (U.S. Department of Labor) predicts the fastest employment growth from 2016-2026 is expected to be in the occupations of solar photovoltaic installers (105 percent increase) and wind turbine service technicians (96 percent increase). Also projected to grow are the occupations of environmental engineers, conservation scientists, hazardous materials removal workers, and wind and solar technicians. All of these occupations are predicted to result in median annual salaries higher than the median salary for all jobs in the U.S.; for example, environmental engineers are predicted to make $86,000/year, and technicians $50,230/year. The predicted growth in these occupations is faster than the average growth of all occupations in the U.S. and reflects rapid increase in jobs in renewable energy. There are 360,000 jobs in the solar energy sector (more than the number of jobs in the coal and nuclear energy sectors combined). And there are another 102,000 jobs in wind energy (the generation of wind energy tripled from 2008-2016).
In 1979 there were 225,000 jobs in the coal industry; now there are about 53,000 (NBC News, 2019). Utility companies are shutting down coal-fired power plants as the energy market shifts toward renewables and natural gas. These are market forces at work. Of course, we should not abandon coal workers to poverty and neglect–we should support them with vocational training, health-care benefits, and other assistance to help them and their communities through this transition toward renewable energy. While the market forces in the energy economy make this transition, it is in the national interest to support former coal workers but also to support the advancing economy of renewable energy. It is renewable energy that will address the urgent need to confront climate change and reduce carbon emissions, which should be strong national and international objectives.
Not only do renewable energy sources reduce carbon emissions in the generation of electrical power, but they are also less expensive than most other sources. The cost of wind and solar energy per megawatt hour are $50 and $58 respectively, while the cost of coal is $100 and nuclear $110 (Lazard’s Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis, 2018).
Electrical generation from renewables has tripled since 2001 (Energy Information Administration, 2019), mostly due to the rapid growth of wind energy. It is estimated that half of the world’s power will be delivered from solar and wind sources by 2050. We have seen some of this growth in our region in the new AEP-Ohio solar hub in Highland County.
There has been much discussion and promotion of natural (shale) gas in our region. Natural gas is an important resource to bridge the transition from coal to renewables, but at the current cost of $1.79 per 1,000 cubic feet (March 2020 spot price according to the Energy Information Administration — that price was over $9 in 2000), profitability is in question. It is hard to imagine that many companies can operate profitably at that price, much less provide sustainable jobs to support the economy long term. One recent sign of the impact of this price decline of natural gas is the declaration of bankruptcy by Chesapeake Energy, a pioneer in hydraulic fracturing of shale gas.
Republicans and Democrats are coming together around the idea of fee and dividend. The Climate Leadership Council as a Republican group is promoting the idea, as well as Citizens Climate Lobby as a nonpartisan group. There is an economic consensus, including economists from the left and the right, recommending fee and dividend (econstatement.org). Republicans and Democrats alike have grandchildren, and we all wish to pass down to them a livable world.
***
George Banziger, Ph.D., was a faculty member at Marietta College and an academic dean at three other colleges. Now retired, he is a member of the Citizens Climate Lobby, the Green Sanctuary Committee of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Marietta, Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action, and Braver Angels (a group addressing political polarization).
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Recommended readings for April 2021
March 2021 – MOVCA Selected Media Postings
Compiled by Cindy Taylor
Appearing on-line in the Charleston Gazette-Mail:
Wednesday, March 10, 2021 Opinion Column by Rev. Robin Blakeman, project coordinator for OVEC
“Robin Blakeman: Encouraging to see Manchin back Haaland’s appointment”
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/opinion/op_ed_commentaries/robin-blakeman-encouraging-to-see-manchin-back-haalands-appointment-opinion/article_6709d2ae-5bb4-506b-bbfd-27ec18fc93b9.html
Tuesday March 9, 2021 Od/Ed by John McFerrin, Gazette-Mail contributing columnist
“John McFerrin: Your move, Big Jim”
(Ferrin challenges Gov. Jim Justice to be a champion of legalizing on-site Power Purchase Agreements- Senate Bill 30)
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/opinion/columnists/john-mcferrin-your-move-big-jim-opinion/article_1cb9ea72-efd1-51af-bca3-eed61437e9cd.html
Monday, March 1, 2021 Energy & Environment News Article by Mike Tony, Staff writer
“Manchin promotes tax credit bill designed to build clean energy manufacturing”
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/energy_and_environment/manchin-promotes-tax-credit-bill-designed-to-build-clean-energy-manufacturing/article_632aa701-d6ee-5a61-a48c-96083999bf2c.html
Appearing on-line on Ohio River Valley Institute (an independent, nonprofit research and communications center – “Sound research for a more sustainable, equitable, democratic, and prosperous Appalachia”:
March 23, 2021 Eric de Place’s summary of ORVI ‘s new REPORT and link to download:
“Risks for New Natural Gas Development in Appalachia” – Groundbreaking new analysis shows future Appalachian shale gas drilling unprofitable and petrochemical buildout unlikely
Ohio River Valley Institute March 2021 REPORT:
Risks for New Natural Gas Developments in Appalachia by Peter Erickson and Ploy Achakulwisut of Stockholm Environment Institute U.S. Link to download pdf.
Click to access Risks-of-new-natural-gas-developments-in-Appalachia_March-2021_Final_3.9.21.pdf
March 18, 2021 Article by Eric Dixon
“The true cost of cleaning up historic damage from the coal Industry”
March 16, 2021 Article by Ted Boettner
“A federal solution is needed to address hazardous abandoned wells”
March 10, 2021 Feature by Sean O’Leary
“Misdirection: How we’re misled about natural gas boom’s economic impacts”
March 4, 2021 Post by Ben Hunkler
“Critical Condition: “ ‘The Shale Crescent’ and the Dream of an Appalachian Petrochemical Boom”
Article includes link to recording of February 3, 2020 Forum on this topic: https://youtu.be/HRnCDDp44Lo
See also these REPORTS drawing much attention in March: (info also included in Feb. media report):
Available on-line on ReImagine Appalachia and Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), Amherst, MA:
February 2021 ReImagine Appalachia shares Summary of results from PERI economic recovery program analysis:
“West Virginia Job Impact Brief” – ReImagine Appalachia blueprint creates 41,000 Jobs in West Virginia
Click to access ReImagine-Appalachia_PeriBrief_WV_Feb2021.pdf
February 2021 Report by Department of Economics and Political Economy Research Institution (PERI) authored by Robert Pollin, Jeannette Wicks-Lim, Shouvik Chakraborty, and Gregor Semieniuk
Impacts of the ReImagine Appalachia & Clean Energy Transition Programs for West Virginia: Job Creation, Economic Recovery, and Long-Term Sustainability. Download available at this site:
Click to access Pollin-et-al-WV-Reimagine-Appalachia-Clean-Energy-Study-2-23-21.pdf
Thursday, February 25, 2021 Zoom Meeting of Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) presenting study:
Overview of the ReImagine Appalachia Climate Infrastructure Plan which would create 41,100 family-sustaining jobs in West Virginia. Angie Rosser, Robert Pollin (lead author of report), Delegate Evan Hansen, Quenton King, Mayor Steve Williams and Josh Sword. 38-minute Recording available: https://m.facebook.com/PERIatUMass/?ref=page_internal&mt_nav=0
Appearing on-line in WV Public Broadcasting and WOUB (PBS):
March 23, 2021 Energy & Environment Article by Emily Allen
“Bill For Air, Water Quality Rules Clears Senate Judiciary Committee”
https://www.wvpublic.org/energy-environment/2021-03-23/bill-for-air-water-quality-rules-clears-senate-judiciary-committee
March 11, 2021 Energy & Environment Article by Eric Douglas with audio interview with Kevin Law (Marshall U.)
“Meteorology Professor: Region Should Prepare For More Weather Swings”
https://www.wvpublic.org/energy-environment/2021-03-11/meteorology-professor-region-should-prepare-for-more-weather-swings
March 10, 2021 Energy & Environment News Article by Emily Allen
“House Passes Bill to Exempt Oil, Gas Operators From Aboveground Storage Tank Act”
https://www.wvpublic.org/energy-environment/2021-03-10/house-passes-bill-to-exempt-oil-gas-operators-from-aboveground-storage-tank-act
Appearing on-line on The New Republic:
March 25, 2021 Article by Nick Martin, staff writer at The New Republic
“The Fracking Shill Local Newspapers Love to Publish”
https://newrepublic.com/article/161712/fracking-shill-local-newspapers
Martin mentions articles by Eric Engle, Jean Ambrose, & Randi Pokladnik responding to Greg Kozera’s weekly column
Appearing on-line on Natural Gas Intelligence:
March 11, 2021 Article by Jamison Cocklin
“Federal Judge Deals Another Setback to Oil, Natural Gas Development in Ohio Natural Forest”
Appearing on-line on The American Prospect:
March 9, 2021 Text and Audio. Robert Kuttner in conversation with Robert Pollin, lead author of PERI report
“A Green Transition for West Virginia”
https://prospect.org/environment/green-transition-west-virginia-robert-pollin-interview/
EVENTS:
Friday, March 26, 2021, 2pm webinar by Green Peace’s project, Fire Drill Fridays with Jane Fonda
Dr. Sandra Steingraber discusses how fracking is a danger to our climate, communities, & health, and what we can do about it. (MOVCA is mentioned by Dr. Sandra Steingraber!)
Tuesday, March 23, 2021, 6pm MOVCA supports Declaration for American Democracy (DFAD) Zoom webinar
“For the People Activist Training: Our Chance To Transform Our Democracy”
https://www.facebook.com/DFADCoalition/videos/887493735126323/?fref=tag
Join U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and movement leaders for an activist call to discuss our path to reforming our democracy through urging the Senate to pass the For the People Act and for a training on actions all of us can take during the April Congressional recess.
Thursday, March 18, 2021, 1pm. Discussion hosted by ReImagine Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley Institute
“Community Listening Session on Repairing the Damage from Hazardous Abandoned Oil & Gas Wells”
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIpcuGrpjspG9TJKsGlJc471d-oNchgPPey
Tuesday March 16, 2021, 3pm Webinar hosted by RECLAIM Act Coalition including ReImagine Appalachia
“Abandoned Mine Land Webinar” – Learn how you can support investments to revitalize coal communities
https://www.facebook.com/ReImagineAppalachia/videos/854879298392887/
Sunday March 14, 7pm Zoom Meeting to discuss ideas for MOVCA’s New Jobs Appalachia committee
March 10, 2021 6:00 PM Virtual Event hosted by West Virginia Environmental Council (https://wvecouncil.org)
“ WV E-DAY 2021” – Live performances, live auction, legislative updates, news from member groups. See:
https://www.facebook.com/events/154700499623977/
Monday, March 1, 2021, 9am Virtual Public Hearing before House Judiciary Committee promoted by WV Citizen Action Group. Registration is by 2/26/21 required.
People’s Public Hearing on Water Quality Standards Rule HB 2389
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Iafrate joins team at Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Actionv
Mar 27, 2021
Staff Reports
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
Angela Iafrate
PARKERSBURG — Angela Iafrate has accepted a parttime position as engagement and program coordinator with the not-for-profit volunteer group Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.
“Angie will work with MOVCA leadership team to design, organize and promote among youth and young adults up to four contests in 2021 with themes drawn from the T.H.R.I.V.E. agendas,” Giulia Mannarino, Climate Action vice-chair said. “With her previous experience in teaching and working with youth, she is well-suited for helping us organize a youth group drawn from students who participate in the contests.”
Iafrate also will assist with maintaining the group’s membership records and lists.
Iafrate said she is “a teacher by training and an advocate at heart, most energized when working at the grassroots towards a more just and sustainable society.”
She has a bachelor’s in Spanish and a master’s in secondary education/Spanish from West Virginia University, including nine graduate hours in nonprofit management. Over a six-year period, she taught Spanish language classes at Parkersburg Catholic High School and at Charleston Catholic High School where she also was faculty adviser to the Environmental Club.
Iafrate has been involved in community activities and advocacy as a volunteer, including a year of AmeriCorps service and serving two-year terms on the boards of the Mid-Ohio Valley Multicultural Festival and the Appalachian Prison Book Project.
She is training in software development at Mountwest Technical and Community College and is the program assistant for West Virginia Interfaith Power and Light where she maintains a database of supporters, composes communications for email lists and copy for website and networks with environmental organizations.
“We are fortunate to have found such a capable and experienced person to work with us,” said Eric Engle, Climate Action chair. “As we come out of the restrictions of the pandemic, we’re excited to have Angie guiding our engagement with students and teachers in the MOV.” Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action focuses on raising awareness of the science establishing the danger of the climate crisis and the urgency of dealing with it. For more information, go to https://main.movclimateaction.org.
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Climate Corner: The real cost of plastics
Mar 27, 2021
Randi Pokladnik
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
Plastic manufacturers want us to believe that our lives would not be complete without plastics. While there are beneficial applications for plastics, our reliance on single-use plastics, which make up 40 percent of all plastics produced, has created a global crisis. Our planet is drowning in plastic waste and our health is being affected by exposures to the toxic compounds used to make plastics.
Studies show plastics and microplastics are now found in our oceans, rivers, tap water, beer, foods, air, soils, and even our bodies. In one week, it is estimated that we ingest 2,000 tiny plastic particles, or the equivalent to a credit card’s weight worth of plastic. Plastics have permeated every aspect of our lives so it is not surprising that the U.S. throws out enough plastic every 16 hours to fill the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium. Every year we generate over 35 million tons of plastic waste. Of that waste, less than 9 percent is recycled. The remaining 90 percent is landfilled, incinerated, or discarded into our ecosystems.
Companies that make and sell disposable plastic products push the responsibility for these wastes onto consumers, claiming recycling is the answer. However, fifty years after the industry-backed “Keep America Beautiful” anti-litter campaign, the USA’s recycling rate is an abysmal 8.7 percent. Even if recycling worked, plastics can only be recycled one or two times before the quality degrades. Glass and metals can be recycled over and over with the same quality integrity.
Citizens pay the increased costs for municipal solid waste landfills as the amount of plastic waste has increased from 390,000 tons in 1960 to over 27 million tons in 2018. Additionally, incineration of plastic wastes produces toxic air emissions like dioxin and furans, which rain down on the communities where these facilities are located.
People all over the world are paying the cleanup costs to pick up discarded drink bottles, Styrofoam trays, plastic bags, and other single-use plastics. According to ODOT, Ohio’s residents pay $4 million dollars a year for litter clean-up and about fifty percent of that litter is single-use wastes from fast-food establishments.
Because plastics have become so prevalent in our lives, we are constantly being exposed to plastic polymers, plasticizers, and heavy metals used in their production. Countless studies show that plasticizers such as bis-phenol A and S, phthalates, and flame retardants in plastic polymers leach into foods stored and cooked in plastic containers. Microplastics that are found in our tap water and food webs can absorb man-made chemical toxins from the environment. They act as tiny sponges and when we drink or eat foods such as fish, we also eat these toxin-laced particles.
Along with contributing to diabetes, obesity, cancer, and impaired immunity, plastic compounds are affecting our fertility in profound ways. “Like dissolves like” and because a majority of plastics and petrochemicals are carbon based, exposures to such compounds results in them being stored in our body fats. The molecular structure of many of these compounds mimics the structures of estrogen and testosterone.
The body is unable to distinguish between a plasticizer and a hormone. When this happens, the endocrine system receives incorrect messages. A plethora of scientific studies show a drastic decline in fertility rates, an increase in miscarriages, and countless other reproductive problems that can be directly attributed to increased exposures to man-made chemicals used in plastics.
Is the convenience of single-use plastics worth the price we truly pay for them? The $20 billion subsidy fossil fuels are given each year would be better used developing bioplastics using hemp, seaweed, corn, and other plant fibers.
***
Randi Pokladnik, Ph.D., of Uhrichsville, is a retired research chemist who volunteers with Mid Ohio Valley Climate Action. She has a doctorate degree in Environmental Studies and is certified in Hazardous Materials Regulations.
Last Updated: April 29, 2023 by main_y0ke11
Future Appalachian Shale Gas Drilling Unprofitable and Petrochemical Buildout Unlikely
Appearing on-line on Ohio River Valley Institute (an independent, nonprofit research and communications center – “Sound research for a more sustainable, equitable, democratic, and prosperous Appalachia”:
March 23, 2021 Article by Eric de Place, research fellow, about new report
Higher prices needed to save Appalachian natural gas, but industry faces pressure from decarbonization and uncertain petrochemical markets.
by Eric de Place
Mar 23, 2021 | Blog Posts, Clean Energy, Research
JOHNSTOWN, Pennsylvania, March 23, 2021 – New gas field developments in Appalachia are unlikely to be profitable as the US energy system undergoes rapid decarbonization, according to a new report from the Stockholm Environment Institute’s US Center (SEI) and the Ohio River Valley Institute. Rosy industry projections of a gas-fueled petrochemical buildout led many Appalachian communities to bank on job growth that never arrived and now may never materialize.
The report, “Risks for New Natural Gas Development in Appalachia” is the first quantitative assessment of how Appalachia’s gas industry would fare in a low carbon future, and it spells trouble for an already troubled industry. The report is also the most detailed publicly-available analysis of the future prospects for natural gas development in the region. The authors analyzed 200 prospective gas projects in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, using data from Rystad Energy, a leading energy research and business intelligence agency. By assessing each field’s capital and operating costs — as well as the gas prices necessary to keep such fields profitable — the authors found that the gas industry in Appalachia is vulnerable to sustained, low prices of domestic gas and natural gas liquids.
“Our analysis shows that gas expansion in Appalachia is a risky investment,” said the report’s lead author, Peter Erickson, a senior scientist and Climate Policy Program Director with SEI. “The calculations show that new gas developments face an array of serious financial risks that could render extraction from Marcellus gas fields unprofitable in the coming years.”
The report finds that a rapidly decarbonizing economy — a specific policy aim of President Biden — would severely undermine the profitability of Appalachian gas development, resulting in reduced production. Lower gas production would in turn crimp the production of natural gas byproducts, like ethane, that serve as feedstocks for the region’s much-hyped petrochemical buildout, which is already facing stiff headwinds from competitor regions and an evolving market for consumer plastics.
“Communities in Appalachia know firsthand what happens when leaders fail to plan for markets that are moving away from fossil fuels,” said Joanne Kilgour, executive director of the Ohio River Valley Institute. “We already know that fracking has failed to deliver prosperity for the local communities that produce the gas. This report makes it clear that the region should plan for real economic development that can flourish in the 21st century.”
SEI’s analysis corroborates the views of Wall Street investors and credit ratings agencies that have soured on the gas industry based on its inability to generate reliable profits. And it reinforces concerns expressed by experts from finance, policymaking, and the oil and gas industry in a recent forum sponsored by the Ohio River Valley Institute.
“With the US government committing to deep decarbonization under the Paris Agreement — and signaling an increasing focus on policies to mitigate devastating climate impacts — we expect to see profound changes to oil and gas markets that would render new Appalachian gas fields unprofitable, on average,” said co-author and SEI Scientist Ploy Achakulwisut.
The full report can be found at the Ohio River Valley Institute website here.
Contact:
Eric de Place
Research Fellow
eric@OhioRiverValleyInstitute.org
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