Editor:
Thereâs a popular quote that reads âPoliticians use statistics like drunks use lampposts â for support rather than illumination.â
The same could be said for a report by the Ohio River Valley Institute, which alleges oil and gas development has done little for 22 resource-rich counties in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia over the last decade.
Based on questionable methodology, the findings contradict the empirical evidence we observe each and every day in the field, especially in agricultural communities across the state. The only thing the report really proves is that there remains a huge disconnect among individuals who simply donât want to admit or donât understand how much traditional resources power our everyday lives.
editorial@newsandsentinel.com
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 predict
Care Work Is Climate Work
Overhauling the economy to cool the planet will require huge investments in care work. Biden’s infrastructure plan is just the start.
JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER/AFP/Getty Images
“What is infrastructure?” Somehow, this is the question under debate right now, thanks to America’s antiquated political system, which has made it virtually impossible to pass anything that isn’t a giant omnibus bill by the slimmest of margins. That could well make the recently proposed “infrastructure bill” President Biden’s last, best chance to jam something through the budget reconciliation process. Republicans are now arguing that any proposal that isn’t only about roads and bridges isn’t really “infrastructure,” and are trying to portray the package as a kind of Green New Deal lite.
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DeSmog
Mar 3, 2021 @ 15:32
A groundbreaking four-part report by Environmental Health News (EHN) offers new scientific evidence that living near oil and gas development can expose people to a wide array of hazardous and carcinogenic chemicals not just those living near shale drilling and fracking, but also those living near older conventional oil and gas wells.
The two-year EHN investigation sought to fill in a gap in the scientific understanding of fracking and chemical exposures by undertaking some research themselves, under the guidance of scientific advisors and with approval from an Independent Review Board. They collected air, water, and urine samples from five Pennsylvania families and sent the samples off to researchers at the University of Missouri for analysis. Those tested also wore personal air monitors for up to eight hours on most days samples were collected. The testing cost the publication an average of $12,000 per family, reporter Kristina Marusic said. Research