The Appalachian Hydrogen Hub is another misguided investment in natural gas
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The Appalachian Hydrogen Hub is another misguided investment in natural gas
By Veronica Coptis
The natural gas economy has had its chance.
For more than a decade, our region’s decision makers have lavished shale gas drillers with tax cuts and other publicly-funded subsidies. We’ve put up with fracking and waste injection, even as our friends and neighbors got sick and our young people moved away. We’ve waited patiently for industry leaders to make good on promises of jobs and economic growth.
History and our own experiences have proven that natural gas development is structurally incapable of generating reliable job growth and lasting economic prosperity. And as Appalachian natural gas production begins to decline, it’s clear the fracking industry’s best shot at revitalizing the region’s economy is in the rearview mirror.
That’s why I’m skeptical of the gas industry’s latest rebranding effort. The Department of Energy has handed over nearly a billion dollars to kickstart the ARCH2 Appalachian Hydrogen Hub project, a sprawling network of pipelines and industrial infrastructure designed to create hydrogen from fracked gas.
CNX, EQT, and other ARCH2 developers say their projects will generate thousands of jobs and revitalize our region’s economy. But it’s a story we’ve heard before — from these very same oil and gas companies. Based on their own figures the hub would increase total employment less than 1% across Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia and these jobs would come at great public expense to our children’s health and future.
As a mother, we must be investing wisely in the future our children will have in the region. We can’t afford to invest in more false promises.
We gave the natural gas industry more than a decade to produce jobs and prosperity in the region. By every measure, it has failed and the Appalachian Hydrogen Hub represents more of this failure for our communities. I think we should try something new. Join me in speaking out at the upcoming ARCH2 listening session on Wednesday, March 27 at 6 PM. Register at bit.ly/ARCH2-listening-session
Veronica Coptis is a Greene County resident and former executive director of the Center for Coalfield Justice.