It’s not just that the industry is financially unstable, “Already heavily indebted, either—it’s dirty and dangerous, especially for those many companies are now employed in these facilities and living in the surrounding struggling to make interest communities, and drives up health care costs. payments on the debt they carry and are 昀椀nding it challenging Ethane cracker plants release numerous hazardous to raise new 昀椀nancing, which air pollutants such as: benzene (linked to cancer and has gotten more expensive childhood leukemia); toluene (linked to brain, liver, and as traditional buyers of debt kidney problems in addition to infant mortality and have vanished and risks to the birth defects); and formaldehyde (a known carcinogen). industry have grown.” New York Times, In fact, one recent analysis found that the addition of three March 2020 cracker plants in the Ohio River Valley is likely to increase health care costs by $3.6-$8.1 billion over 30 years. And remember, we’re not even talking about creating energy here, people! Much of the fracked gas extracted from across the Ohio River Valley is being used to produce plastics —not keep the lights or heat on . But economic growth and good-paying jobs are possible in communities like yours with renewable energy and the green economy. THE TRANSITION TO A CLEAN ENERGY ECONOMY IS ON, AND THAT MEANS JOBS. LOTS OF THEM. GOOD AND EQUITABLE ONES, TOO. • Did you know: There are already more clean energy jobs than fossil fuel jobs, outnumbering them by about three-to-one in 2018. • The two fastest-growing jobs in the country right now are clean energy jobs. • It’s not just happening in cities, either. Rural communities have recently seen incredible growth in jobs in clean energy and (particularly!) energy efficiency. • And the pay is better too! Workers in clean energy and energy efficiency fields earn higher and more equitable wages compared to all workers nationally, with mean hourly wages often exceeding national pay averages by 8 to 19 percent. Jobs are a key feature in the shift toward a cleaner economy and a greener tomorrow. Maybe if we started to look a little differently at the choices in front of us, we’d see the best possible future doesn’t need to include pipelines or benzene pollution or methane emissions. That instead, turning away from natural gas and petrochemicals will keep our communities healthy and lead to a sustainable economic future—for the Ohio River Valley and beyond.