Impacts of the ReImagine Appalachia Blueprint and the Clean Energy Transition Programs for Ohio: Job Creation, Economic Recovery, and Long-Term Sustainability-Summary

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated severe public health and economic impacts in Ohio, as with most everywhere else in the United States. This study proposes a recovery program for Ohio that is capable of exerting an effective counterforce against the state’s economic collapse in the short run while also building a durable foundation for an economically viable and ecologically sustainable longer-term recovery. Even under current pandemic conditions, we cannot forget that we have truly limited time to take decisive action around climate change. As we show, a robust climate stabilization project for Ohio will also serve as a major engine of economic recovery and expanding opportunities throughout the state. The combination of investments in clean energy, manufacturing/infrastructure, and land restoration/agriculture will create about 235,000 jobs in Ohio, while providing the foundation for a long-term sustainable growth path for the state (Pollin et al. in Department of Economics and Political Economy Research, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 2020). This program builds from the Re-Imagine Appalachia Blueprint developed and endorsed by a wide range of organizations in the region (ReImagine Appalachia. The Blueprint- A New Deal that Works for All of Us. July 2020. https://Reimagineappalachia.org/Blueprint ).