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Population shifts — voting with feet

The latest Census migration data tell a clear and consistent story: people are voting with their feet. In King County, Washington’s largest population center and economic hub, domestic migration has been negative for years. Between 2023 and 2024 alone, the county lost 12,501 residents to other parts of the United States. The following year, another 9,079 left. Since 2020, the cumulative loss has reached more than 95,000 people. This is not a one-year anomaly. It is a sustained pattern. At the same time, Idaho’s largest counties are experiencing the opposite trend. Ada County, ...

State’s natural gas spurs climate progress

This Earth Day, it’s important to recognize the advancements in energy that are contributing to a cleaner environment. Consider this: carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the U.S. are down while electricity demand has increased since 2019. Across the PJM Interconnection, with includes Pennsylvania, 12 other states and the District of Columbia, power sector emissions have declined by roughly 50% since 2005 – driven largely by the transition to natural gas-fired power. This is real climate progress made possible by natural gas. Across shale-rich Pennsylvania and Appalachia, ...

Economic development 101: The Williamsport Lumber Yards

Economic development is truly the process by which communities are transformed. Nowhere is this more evident than in Williamsport’s Lumber Yards project, set to host its first tournament this coming weekend. The facility features six lighted synthetic turf fields for youth baseball and girls’ and women’s softball, a convertible collegiate-size field, concessions and a hospitality hub. The story of the Lumber Yards begins with the acquisition of the former Susquehanna Supply site, a neglected brownfield that the Lycoming County Visitors Bureau and the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber ...

Radical tax hikes will accelerate Pennsylvania’s outmigration

Gov. Josh Shapiro keeps repeating the claim that Pennsylvania is the only growing state in the Northeast. But that’s not true. Residents continue to leave Pennsylvania for greener pastures. New data from the Internal Revenue Service shows that Pennsylvania lost 15,000 residents on net to other states in 2023. Those residents took with them $2.3 billion in annual income. This outmigration spans all age groups, but it is especially pronounced among working-age professionals and higher-income earners. These are the very people who drive economic growth. And they are leaving for ...

Munich and its memory of horrors

I once interviewed a young German national who applied for a job. I wanted to see how he would handle a difficult question. I pointed out to him that I was Jewish and that most of my mother’s family had perished in the Holocaust. He was German, not yet a U.S. national, and I wondered what his reaction would be. His response was measured and perfect for the occasion. He explained to me that as a German who went to school, until college, in Germany, he knew more about the Holocaust than any American young person he had met. He indicated that he had been taken to concentration camps while ...

Affordability requires more power plants

Pennsylvania has powered America for generations. From the coal that fueled the Industrial Revolution to the natural gas boom of the Marcellus Shale, our state has long been one of the nation’s energy leaders. That is why it is frustrating for many families and small businesses to see their electricity bills rising. In a state that produces so much energy, electricity should be abundant and affordable. The truth is, Pennsylvania does not have a resource problem. We have one of the world’s largest natural gas reserves and the ability to produce far more electricity than we do ...