Will The Fracking Boom Ever Translate Into Jobs And Income For Appalachia’s Residents?

Will The Fracking Boom Ever Translate Into Jobs And Income For Appalachia’s Residents?

The U.S. fracking boom has delivered record amounts of shale gas “” fuel used not just for electric generation but also as a feedstock for the manufacturing sector. But despite that explosive growth, the Appalachian region has failed to realize corresponding economic benefits. What gives?

On Wednesday, the Ohio River Valley Institute readily acknowledged that the oil and gas industry has produced an abundance of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids that are comprised of ethane, methane and propane “” the elements that go into finished products. The region, in fact, now accounts for 30% of the nation's natural gas production. But the growth in both jobs and incomes never followed.

That is because much of the wealth creation has gone to those who often live outside those local areas and who then reinvest their profits elsewhere. And the conference also disputed the notion that the creation of one energy job leads to several others, noting that the "multiplier effect“ in Appalachia's shale gas area and is virtually one-for-one. The Ohio River Valley represents Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. 

"Petrochemical prices are volatile,“ Kathy Hipple, a finance professor at Bard College, told the audience. "These are decisions that big cracker plants have