In the final hours of Ohio’s lame-duck session, lawmakers passed House Bill 554 late Thursday night, which will freeze clean energy mandates for another two years if Gov. John Kasich signs the bill. More than 25,000 jobs could be at risk. The state’s original Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), SB 221, was passed in 2008. It […]
What next, Ohio? You’ve rolled back your renewable energy standards, you’ve gotten sued over your reckless fracking regulations, you’re considering banning green LEED standards for public buildings and you’re trying to weaken Lake Erie water withdrawal rules that would jeopardize the multi-state Great Lakes Compact and an international treaty with Canada. What else do you have […]
This one’s not a big one in the scheme of things. But to those impacted—especially in Ohio, where algae bloom recently caused the water supplying nearly a half million people in the Toledo area to be undrinkable for several days—it’s bad news. Monday morning, reports the Columbus Dispatch, the Coast Guard closed down a 15-mile […]
The City of Toledo issued a “Do Not Drink” advisory to more than 400,000 residents last weekend after chemical tests confirmed the presence of unsafe levels of the algal toxin Microcystin in the drinking water in three counties in Ohio and one in Michigan. Last night on MSNBC’s the Ed Show, Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur and Dr. […]
A case going before the Ohio Supreme Court could have a major impact on distributed generation in the state, while raising questions about corporate separation and possible conflicts of interest for regulated utilities. The PUCO’s recent decision holds that customers who provide excess electricity to the grid are entitled to the full value that would […]
Students for Environmental Action, an Ohio State University (OSU) student organization, rallied last week to encourage the university to divest from harmful fossil fuels. The campaign is part of a nationwide divestment movement that has spread to more than 300 colleges and universities across the country. “As one of the top universities in the country, OSU is […]
Greenpeace By Cassady Sharp The same law that contributed to George Zimmerman walking free out of a Florida courtroom last weekend after taking the life of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was primarily written by the same super lobbying group behind legislation protecting natural gas companies from disclosing chemicals used in fracking. The American Legislative Exchange Council, […]
Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund Mora Valley, New Mexico Monday the County Commission of Mora County, located in northeastern New Mexico, became the first county in the U.S. to pass an ordinance banning all oil and gas extraction. Drafted with assistance from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF), the Mora County Community Water Rights […]
Thanks to News Channel 5’s investigator Sarah Buduson for interviewing me regarding the proposed 250-mile Nexus Gas transmission pipeline from Northeast Ohio to Canada. The pipeline would transport Utica shale gas from fields in eastern Ohio to customers in Ohio, Michigan and Ontario, Canada with possible plans of an expansion once operations begin in November […]