Remarks as Prepared for Secretary Dan Brouillette Appalachia Report Stakeholder Call

Thank you for taking the time to join this morning’s call.

The post-pandemic economic comeback is going to be powered by American energy dominance, and Appalachia is poised to play a leading role.

The Appalachian region is now the nation’s number-one producer of natural gas and a major producer of coal and natural gas liquids.

As such, Appalachia is critical to advancing America’s future prosperity and energy security. Those are the major themes of a report released today by the Department of Energy.

The full report, which was directed by the President, is entitled The Appalachian Energy and Petrochemical Renaissance: An Assessment of Economic Progress and Opportunity.

Most importantly, the report shows that this critical region of our country has tremendous opportunities before it for growth in energy production, petrochemical development, and manufacturing.

While ultimately it is private investment that will bolster these industries to reach their full potential, the federal government has an important role to play in achieving the Appalachian energy and petrochemical renaissance.

First, we must build on our successes of the past several years and continue to develop a pro-growth tax and regulatory business environment.

This has been a major focus of the Trump administration, as evidenced by the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017, the pursuit of pro-energy sector trade agreements, and streamlined federal approval processes for energy infrastructure projects.

DOE is an active partner on many of these efforts with Treasury, EPA, Commerce, and USTR to bring benefit to Appalachia.

Next, we must invest in public infrastructure, like upgrading roads, railways, the Ohio River Valley river system and developing Appalachian broadband internet.

The President is strongly supportive of a federal role in infrastructure investments. Third, we must support workforce development.

To that end, the Department of Energy plans to partner with the Appalachian Regional Commission on workforce development grant funding, and the White House has joined with Shell on the Pledge to the American Worker.

Our fellow agencies, such as Commerce and Labor, are supporting a variety of training programs to assist business and individuals.

Finally, we must spur innovation, especially, through research and development that produces technologies that can be commercialized by private industry.

The Department is playing a critical role in driving innovation through the work done at our National Energy Technology Labs in Pittsburgh and Morgantown.

We are also providing financial assistance to numerous businesses throughout the region.

Here we see a direct nexus to Appalachia’s immense coal reserves. It’s no secret that there is less of a domestic market for coal-fired power generation today than there was in the past.

But that does not mean that coal has no place in our energy future. In fact, the exact opposite is true.

First, there are numerous export markets for Appalachian coal.

That fact, combined with our ability to export our expertise and technologies, like carbon capture, utilization, and storage, provides a tremendous opportunity to advance our energy security.

Second, there is great potential in what we call the “coal-to-products” industry.

As the name suggests, this involves using coal as a feedstock to develop high-value products like building material, carbon fiber, and graphite.

More exciting still is the potential to extract critical minerals from coal, including rare earth elements, almost all of which we currently source from unreliable foreign trading partners.

So, clearly, the future of coal in Appalachia is bright. As is the future for Appalachia’s burgeoning petrochemical sector.

There are promising signs on the horizon for petrochemical production in the region that invented it.

Currently, nearly 100 percent of the ethane produced in Appalachia is exported out of the region for manufacturing.

But with future production expected to grow to as much as 640,000 barrels per day by 2025, concerted efforts are underway to boost in-region manufacturing capacity, which in turn would maximize economic benefits to the region.

Shell’s petrochemical complex, which will convert ethane to polyethylene plastic resin, represents the first of what could be multiple facilities in the region.

PTT’s planned ethane cracker in Ohio is also moving forward with the support of the state and the local communities, and DOE is optimistic for the promise of this project as well.

These facilities represent billions of dollars of capital investments, which will lead to the creation of thousands of direct and indirect jobs.

And as Appalachian NGL production increases, the feedstocks will create new opportunities in low-cost power generation, petrochemicals, and the manufacturing industry.

In fact, there is tremendous opportunity for energy-intensive manufacturing of products like glass, steel, and aluminum.

Manufacturing has always been synonymous with American economic strength and prosperity.

Unfortunately, for a host of reasons, at some point in the past we stopped making things.

It is time we revive American manufacturing and Appalachia is the place to do it. The region has the workforce, it has the resources.

What it needs now is the right combination of public and private sector engagement to drive capital investment and realize the tremendous economic opportunities on the horizon.

The Appalachian region is synonymous with American energy production and manufacturing.

As this report makes clear, there is a path to future prosperity and improved quality of life for this region, and the Department of Energy is committed to making that goal a reality.

We ask you to join with us in that effort.

Thank you.