Pollutive industries, like manufacturing and energy, continue to drive economies across Appalachia. Air and water quality suffer, landscapes are scarred, and communities are held at the mercy of a boom-and-bust cycle, trending toward bust.

The term “path dependency” refers to a sort of historical inertia resulting from a resistance to change and a desire to stay the course. Existing structures and institutions can constrain the ways we live—economically, politically, culturally, ecologically. In other words: the past matters. Historical choices limit our options today. Contemporary choices limit options tomorrow and into the future.

The photos to the right, made in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, illustrate the ongoing influence of industrial technologies on Appalachian life. We're hanging on to an economy driven by extraction, even as we are developing clean methods of meeting needs. This is a visual document of the legacy our ancestors left for us—and what we will leave for others.