According to the WV Geological & Economic Survey, natural gas production doubled in West Virginia, from 265.2 billion cubic feet in 2010 to 538.7 billion cubic feet in 2012. As the chart below shows, this is the most natural gas West Virginia has ever produced. While there are no facts about the future, it…
Energy & Environment
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics establishment survey, mining jobs are at a two-decade high in in the Mountain State. The chart below finds that the number of jobs in "Mining & Logging" in West Virginia was 36,200 in May 2013. This was higher than at any time over the last 23 years.…
Last Wednesday, Jared Hunt with the Daily Mail reported that a new study by IHS Global Insight projects that West Virginia will see a huge boom in economic growth from unconventional oil and gas activity over the coming decades. According to an IHS Global Insight study, West Virginia's oil and natural gas industry accounted for…
Last week, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Tina Rosenburg had an op-ed in the New York Times on how countries can avoid the resource curse. While the brunt of the article focused on how unstable countries are vulnerable to building a shared prosperity from their rich natural resources, Rosenburg highlighted Alaska and its permanent fund as…
"Political leaders don't have to do the hard work of building human capital and promoting sustainable economic growth -- they can just coast along, riding the benefits of the resource boom." The above quote was taken from a new article in Foreign Policy Magazine by David Rothkopk. The article, "Cursed with Plenty," looks at a…
The independent think tank Headwaters Economics has released a report on the best fiscal practices for states and local governments with oil and natural gas extraction. The report states, "Drilling for oil and natural gas is a high-impact economic activity that presents opportunities and challenges for state and local governments seeking to reconcile the benefits of job and…
As readers may know, we've talked a lot recently about the future of coal in West Virginia. Specifically, we've aimed at taking a data-driven and evidence-based approach to the issue instead of one focused primarily on unsubstantiated political posturing. The issue is just too important not to be taken seriously. Now, with the election over, …
While policymakers have been somewhat slow to confront the historical and future decline of coal in the state, coal mining executives seem to understand quite well the economic realities facing their industry. As Ken Ward reported last Friday, the CEO of Alpha Natural Resources, Kevin Crutchfield, noted he "expects the region's production of steam coal…
Washington Times -- The tumble for coal is not projected to stop, according to an economic report released in September by the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy. The report suggests that coal jobs are up for now, according to Executive Director Ted Boettner, but the long-term projections are not good. Read
The projected decline of Central Appalchian coal production is one of the biggest challenges facing the state in the near future. While there are many reasons for the decline, some are irreversible, as much of the easy to reach coal has been mined out. This has prompted a great deal of concern in the state, chiefly regarding the…