Impacts of the ReImagine Appalachia and Clean Energy Transition Programs for Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia: Summary

The Reimagine Blueprint and Clean Energy Program present a recovery program for Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia that is capable of exerting an effective counterforce against the region’s economic collapse due to COVID-19 in the short run while also building a durable foundation for an economically viable and ecologically sustainable longer-term recovery. We show how investing in the areas of clean energy, public infrastructure, manufacturing revival, land restoration and agriculture at about four percent of GDP will generate nearly 522,000 new jobs in the three-state Appalachian region. We also develop just transition programs for workers and communities that currently depend on the fossil fuel industry for their livelihoods. A just transition must be a centerpiece of any viable recovery and long-term development project for the region.