Fracking Bill

They did it.

Last night Ohio’s State Assembly passed Senate Bill 315, what will be one of the worst fracking laws in the nation.
The bill heading to Gov. Kasich’s desk fails to reinvest in Ohio communities, fails to adequately protect them from the toxic impacts of the fracking industry, and fails to help Ohio address the growing climate crisis.
It means that Ohio will allow bigger health and safety loopholes and ask the gas industry to pay less than almost any other state in the country, exposing our communities to the worst excesses of the fracking industry. Doctors will be prevented from talking openly about the sickness they see seeping into our water, and the gas industry will keep all of the profits flowing out of our communities.
The rumblings you hear when this bill is signed is not the sound of another injection well caused earthquake (though another is now likely inevitable) – it is the rumblings of a backlash against the politicians who have been bought out with millions of dollars of the gas industry’s money, and have chosen to sacrifice Ohio in return.
Those rumblings will become an uproar next month when we take over the streets and statehouse in Columbus to tell Gov. Kasich: Don’t Frack Ohio! If we want Gov. Kasich to get the message, we need to make this action big. Can you help us take this action to the next level by reaching out to your social networks, and your community?
Share the news about SB 315 with your social networks:
Click here to share on Facebook -- Click here to share on Twitter
Also, folks across the state are fanning out into their communities to spread the word about the action. We're coordinating outreach captains to blanket the state with information before the action in June - if you can help mobilize your community for the action in June, click here to let us know.
The industry has told Ohioans to prepare for thousands of new wells beginning as soon as they can get away with. Here are some of the worst things about this bill that you need to know:
Key portions of the bill were written, word for word, by the gas industry. Gov. Kasich and the fracking industry's biggest supporters adopted model legislation proposed by the industry to set disclosure and key safety rules.
Fracking companies can hide which chemicals they use in the fracking process by calling them 'trade secrets'. That means they are exempt from telling you what they put in your water. What little they do disclose is 60 days after drilling takes place, too late for communities to test to show what was in their water before drilling, rendering the disclosure meaningless.
The gas industry pays nothing for the mess they create. Gov. Kasich's minor tax on individual wells is offset by new tax breaks on property taxes and other giveaways, which means the gas industry will pay less in Ohio taxes than they do in any other state in the country. 
No citizen notification or input will be allowed on any part of the fracking industry. There is no public notice, no public comment, and no right to appeal for drill sites, pipelines, or compressor stations.
On June 17th, let's show him that there are consequences for casting your lot with the gas industry as the world warms. We'll be taking over the statehouse to send an unmistakable message to him and the other bought-and-sold politicians that we won't let them frack Ohio.
See you there,
-Duncan
Sources:
"Kasich allows oil & gas industry to write portions of fracking legislation" Plunderbund, May 23, 2012
"Ohio Drilling Regulations Would Bar Doctors From Publicly Revealing Chemicals" AP, May 23, 2012
"Senate Fracking Bill is Chock Full of Loopholes" Don't Frack Ohio, May 22nd, 2012