Coal towns all across the Ohio river valley shifted towards Republicans compared to 2016. The valley is ground zero of a massive energy transition. Oil giants are banking on fracked gas to drive a new plastics and petrochemicals boom there. @yayitsrob
https://www.ehn.org/petrochemical-industry-ohio-river-2641494525.html https://twitter.com/gelliottmorris/status/1326246240292646913

2/ Ohio river towns transition from declining coal to new Oil/Gas & petrochem boom. 29 new gas power plants are under construction in OH, PA & WV. American Chemistry Council tallies $36B in potential invstmt. Half that plastic is for Asian export market! https://www.ehn.org/petrochemical-industry-ohio-river-2641494525.html

3/Every industrial cluster is like Ohio river valley in miniature. Corona shock adds uncertainty. Fossil & downstream companies in a dozen states are shedding 100s of thousands of workers. US needs regional devlpmnt policy @thoatley
https://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/energy-transition-coal-canary https://twitter.com/70sBachchan/status/1252382749345738753

4/ The much remarked swing towards Trump in hispanic counties of West Texas is also an Oil boomtowns in the Rio Grande valley story. https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-democrats-lost-so-many-south-texas-latinosthe-economy-11604871650 https://twitter.com/TimMLatimer/status/1324409233941630979

5/ Its not just Coal,Oil & gas. Other clusters can also "anticipate disruptive tech changes – utilities, engine & turbine manuf, Auto suppliers, steel,cement..."
If regional devlpmt policies aren't made there'll be large swings to Republicans in the future https://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/energy-transition-coal-canary

6/Elections - & these were won by few 1000 votes - are about specific places. GOP promises hi wage gas, petrochem & agro-industrial jobs. Democrats will lose if they can't convince ppl living in small towns of rural america that 'Just Transition' means investment $ & tax revenues

7/ @henryfarrell suggests this is "Why we need a properly developed field of American political economy that can figure out relationship between energy industry & voting"
This finding should provoke more political scientists to study firms, unions & towns https://twitter.com/thoatley/status/1326353017826897920

8/ Mike Davis(as in 2016 https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/02/the-great-god-trump-and-the-white-working-class/)focuses on Dems neglect of Appalachia & Rio Grande Valley. "‘Millions of green energy jobs’ is an abstraction that utterly fails to connect to the concrete circumstances of Rustbelt & inner-city communities" https://twitter.com/adam_tooze/status/1326507467510063105