Proposed project locations for the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub in West Virginia. (U.S. Department of Energy | Screenshot)
On the last day of July, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that the Appalachian Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) would receive $30 million to fund phase one activities in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania. This announcement comes less than a year after the DOE revealed their selections for award negotiations for the Regional “Clean” Hydrogen Hub program funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to establish a national network for hydrogen production, consumption and infrastructure. Per congressional requirements , two of the seven hubs had to be located in regions with the greatest natural, or fossil, gas resources and one hub must produce hydrogen from fossil fuels.
Among the seven hubs selected across the country, the two located in gas-producing regions are environmental sacrifice zones interlinked through their history of hosting toxic industry and fossil fuel infrastructure — the Gulf Coast and Appalachia. ARCH2 will rely on blue, or fossil, hydrogen, meaning there will be a lifecycle of fossil fuel extraction, water and air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and carbon dioxide pipeline and injection well build-out. Thus, the development and completion of these fossil hydrogen hubs threaten climate progress and environmental justice, all bankrolled by our taxpayer dollars.
In the past ten months of negotiations, regional organizations and residents expressed a lack of transparency, shared potential detrimental impacts, and made demands for delays in the expedited hydrogen hub process at two virtual listening sessions in March and May . Undeterred by these overwhelming concerns , the DOE moved ahead with negotiations excluding key stakeholders from the table — impacted residents and environmental experts. The agency suggested that more comprehensive engagement will occur and more detailed information will be shared after the award phase one funding; the critical problem with this is that locals are, yet again, left behind in the decision-making process of developments affecting their communities, while corporations start the process with a leg up.
Plans by ARCH2 suggest the hub will affect most West Virginia counties spanning across the Ohio River Valley. ARCH2 claims that hydrogen is the “future of energy” and will allow Appalachia to “fight climate change,” despite being led by the same fossil fuel and petrochemical actors in the region that have polluted the local environment and worsened our collective climate crisis. With a weak community benefits commitments summary published alongside the announcement of the phase one award, ARCH2 and DOE further demonstrate that they will maintain a veil over the outcome of project negotiations and leave residents in the dark over what to expect in their communities.
Appalachia is no stranger to boondoggles by corporate actors who promise prosperity yet in reality exacerbate extraction, pollution and economic exploitation. By challenging false climate solutions and calling out greenwashing in fossil hydrogen projects, our region can and must stop the persistent cycle of corporate influence. We have an opportunity to co-create a sustainable present and future where all our needs are met and communities, not corporations, decide what they want to see built.
The phase one award of $30 million is only a fraction of what ARCH2 is expected to receive, the proposed total being $925 million across the multi-phase process. To put that scale of funding into perspective, current cumulative funding needs for drinking water infrastructure in West Virginia are approximately $302 million. West Virginia has the highest average monthly water bill and a dire need for basic infrastructure investments as climate disasters continue to worsen and weaken those same support systems. It is appalling that the DOE and ARCH2 allies, like Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelly Moore Capito, and West Virginia University, continue to champion and expedite this experiment on our region’s natural resources and communities.
Hydrogen is a complex issue that requires the input of all stakeholders, especially those in communities affected by associated projects from extraction and production to transportation and storage. If the DOE is committed to a genuine clean energy transition, this is a critical moment to pause the process and integrate the feedback of local communities and organizations before handing out any multi-million dollar awards.
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